


Brotherhood of Glass: Episode Three

by TheInkredibleKaptainKaiju



Series: The Elsewhere Saga [9]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alien Invasion, Canon Compliant, Gen, Human-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-17 13:35:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28600776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheInkredibleKaptainKaiju/pseuds/TheInkredibleKaptainKaiju
Summary: BAINE is needed now more than ever now that it seems Homeworld has renewed its interest in the tiny blue planet. However, things take a turn as they now have to deal with a threat from beyond the stars--and not Gems. BAINE has fought humans, Gems, corrupted monsters, but can they handle an alien invasion?
Series: The Elsewhere Saga [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1425562
Comments: 6
Kudos: 3





	1. New Toys

**The Elsewhere Saga: Brotherhood of Glass**

**Episode Three: Invasion**

Chapter One: New Toys

\- - -

_ May 29, 2016. BAINE Research Center, Classified Location. _

The glass door slid open, and two figures entered the room. On the right was a slender, taller man with black hair, holding himself in a professional, but not uptight, manner. Doctor Edmund Rhodes, one of BAINE’s top scientists. On his left was an older gentleman with short greying hair, and a sturdy build despite being confined to a motorized wheelchair. Director Morgan Mills, the current head of BAINE’s North American branch.

“These past few months have been a major wake-up call,” said Rhodes. “The Children of Homeworld showed us that there are threats out there ready and willing to attack us directly. And the Cluster showed us that not only does Homeworld still have its eyes on this planet, but that we’ll be completely outmatched if they get serious. If we want to stand half a chance in the event of a full-scale assault by Homeworld, we need to up our game.”

“Indeed we do,” Mills said with a nod. “It’s not only corrupted Gems we have to deal with anymore.”

“No,” said Rhodes. “Now, I have a few prototypes that, with your approval, I’d like to move into the mass-production stage. At least, as mass-produced as we can with our limited resources.”

The pair passed by a number of scientists and workers on their way through the facility, designing and building the next generation of BAINE’s equipment. Some used a mix of Gem and human sciences, like the photo-field containment devices used to hold defeated Gem monsters, or communicators that could maintain a connection even underground or in stormy weather. Others were made solely through human ingenuity, like the carbon-mesh armor used by BAINE operatives, strong enough to withstand even the strongest impact, or nanogel that could quickly sterilize and seal wounds in the rare chance that the armor was bypassed.

What Rhodes wanted to show Mills was passed all of these innovations, however. The two carried on into the next room, a large hangar that held several land and air vehicles. Rhodes hit the lights, revealing a futuristic fighter jet suspended in the room’s center. The plane was far more sleek and smooth than current models, with numerous thrusters and afterburners at the tail end, and a holographic display in the cockpit.

“If Homeworld does attack us, we’ll need to be able to fight them on their level,” Rhodes said. “For that reason, I’ve designed this: a painstaking three-year process of reverse-engineering a Gem fighter from the War has resulted in the XA-9 Lightray, the most advanced single-person fighter, and perhaps aircraft, ever created. The Lightray is equipped with both kinetic and energy-based weaponry, making it equally qualified to handle both extraterrestrial and earthly threats. By using a Gem fuel cell as its power source, it can fly for nearly a month without needing to refuel, and is able to reach speeds capable of achieving escape velocity--and it’s no coincidence, as it’s also able to handle in the vacuum of space, with an armored hull and shielding capable of protecting its pilot even in these conditions.” Once he finished, he looked up with pride at the space-age jet.

Mills looked up at the jet, impressed even if his face didn’t show it. “Dr. Rhodes, you’ve truly outdone yourself with this one,” he said. “I don’t suppose, if it isn’t too much to ask, that I could see a live demonstration of its capabilities?”

Edmund pursed his lips and turned to the side. “I’m...afraid not, sir,” he said quietly. “This is only a theoretical project. What you see here is only a model, unfortunately.”

“Oh?” said Mills, raising an eyebrow. “What happened to your ‘painstaking three-year process?’”

“Well, you see, we  _ did _ uncover a Gem fighter ship, and we  _ were _ able to reverse-engineer it,” Rhodes explained. “We more-or-less know how it works, there’s just the matter of making it compatible with human control. I think we can definitely pull this off, as long as we’re given the needed funding.”

“I see,” said Mills. “Theoretical or not, this ‘Lightray; of yours seems promising. I’ll consider it. Now, what else is it that you wanted to show me?”

“Ah, yes, my other project,” Rhodes said, walking back into the previous room, as Mills followed. “I think you’ll be glad to know that this one is not only much more down-to-earth, but much less theoretical as well!”

“I am excited already,” Mills said calmly.

Their path brought the two of them into a room that was much smaller than the hangar, but still quite spacious. A glass barrier separated them from much of the room, which contained a plethora of what looked like security cameras on one side, and a large armored door on the other.

Rhodes stepped in front of Mills with his back to the glass. “Now, in the event of a Homeworld invasion, they aren’t only going to attack from above, right? They’re most likely going to send in ground forces, either to reactivate the Cluster, resume production at the Kindergartens, or just exterminate us outright. Given the vast difference in technology between modern humans and modern Gems, we won’t have a prayer in the event of an all-out attack. So, we’ll need to up our game.” As he talked, Edmund began to gesture wildly, and his mouth spread into a grin. “Take Jasper, for example: even Gems like Garnet, Stevonnie and apparently Rose had trouble taking her on, so we’ll need a weapon able to go toe-to-toe with a Quartz soldier like her.” He tapped a communicator on his ear. “Send in the big boy.”

The heavy door on one side of the room slowly began to raise towards the ceiling, whatever was on the other side hidden by darkness. Whatever it was, while it couldn’t be seen, could definitely be heard. Heavy footsteps tromped closer to the light, something in the tunnel illuminated: a small blue light, growing slightly brighter.

The source of the light soon revealed itself as a large figure appeared: a glowing blue visor belonging to a person clad in a thick layer of armor, pure white in color. The armor was also host to several smaller blue lights, the brightest of which came from a massive backpack worn by the figure, which was connected by several cables to a truly enormous underslung gun that they held.

As both Mills and Rhodes regarded the figure, the latter beamed. “Sure, the Lightray may have been impressive, but I think  _ this _ is my magnum opus!” he said. A similar fusion of human and Gem tech, what you see before you is a suit of powered armor equipped with life-support functions, resistant to just about everything this planet and others can throw at it, and enough firepower to take on a corrupted Gem solo. I give you...the Quartzbreaker!”

The soldier wearing the Quartzbreaker armor moved into place further into the room, standing on an indicated marker facing the opposite wall. The devices that seemed to be security cameras whirred to life.

“You wanted a demonstration, Director?” said Rhodes. “Well, see for yourself what a Quartzbreaker can do!”

Beams of light shot out of each of the cameras, each one forming a three-dimensional shape of a burly humanoid roughly the size of the Quartzbreaker. Once they were fully formed, these holograms ran towards the armored figure. Undeterred, they levelled their massive gun at the approaching threats, the barrel exploding with light. A barrage of countless bolts of energy shot out, mowing through the holographic targets like a hot knife through butter. Only when the wave had been completely eviscerated did the beams stop, the end of the gun glowing with heat as steam rose from it.

“It certainly boasts some impressive firepower,” Mills observed.

“Just wait, you haven’t seen the best part yet,” said Rhodes. “Ready second wave!”

More of the holographic Quartzes appeared opposite the room, rushing at the armored soldier. In response, they lifted the gun up higher, pulling the grip downwards. This caused the barrel of the gun to shift, transforming as another blue light appeared--a glowing blade made from pure energy.

The Quartzbreaker skewered the first of the approaching targets, lifting it above their head and bringing it down onto the next. They swung the sword with surprising speed, aided by the enhanced strength granted by the armor. Each of the holograms was bisected before it could land a single hit, with the last one sliced clean down the middle. They then shifted their weapon back into gun form, standing ready and waiting for another wave.

Rhodes looked excitedly between the Quartzbreaker and Mills. “Well? What do you think?” he asked. “Pretty cool, yeah?”

“Pretty cool indeed,” said Mills. “But is it as effective against actual Gems as it is against holograms?”

“Don’t worry, these holograms are made from similar solid-light technology to real Gems, so that’s how you know it really works!” said Rhodes. “And this is just the prototype! Once we can get enough funding to mass produce these handsome devils, we’ll be able to make them sleeker and less bulky, while still keeping them just as combat-ready. So? You make up your mind yet, or would you like to see a third wave?”

“That won’t be necessary, thank you,” Mills said. “You’ve convinced me--I’ll see if we can’t send a little extra financing your way for this pet project of yours.”

Rhodes silently pumped his fist, before speaking into his communicator. “Thanks, bud, go ahead and take five.” The Quartzbreaked nodded, before heading back through the large door. “I won’t let you down, sir!”

“You never have before, Doctor.” The two of them exited the firing range. “Though you may have to wait a while for your Lightray project.”

“You’re the boss, sir,” Edmund said, nodding. “BAINE’s aerial division’s made it this far, anyway. I think they can handle themselves for now.”

\- - -

_ May 30, 2016. Skies over the Mediterranean Sea. _

Miles above the water, a squadron of jet fighters shot through the clouds at close to mach three. They numbered five in all, with one slightly before the other four. In this one, the pilot glanced occasionally down at his radar, waiting for a ping. This was Emett ‘Vortex’ de Santis, the squad leader.

A voice crackled in through the radio to all five planes. “Falcon Squadron, target is rapidly approaching, ETA two minutes. Fall into formation and prepare to engage, over.”

Emett clicked the button to respond. “Roger that, Command. Team, into positions. Falcon-1, standing by.”

A second fighter, flying slightly above the others, approached Emett’s plane from behind with an aileron roll. “Falcon-2, standing by,” said a male voice.

A third fighter didn’t need to fly into position, as it was already flying behind Emett. “Falcon-3, standing by,” another male voice said.

Yet another plane rose up from beneath the others, taking its place behind and left of Falcon-2. “Falcon-4, standing by,” a voice far deeper than the others said.

After a while, a fifth plane still hadn’t appeared. “Oh, for...Where’s Rattler?” asked the voice of Falcon-3.

“Ah, don’t get in a knot, I’m comin’,” said a female voice. Another plane, which had been skimming along the sea, rose up into place. Unlike the others, this one bore artwork on its nosecone--specifically, the image of a rattlesnake’s head. “Falcon-5, ready to rock.”

“Command, all fighters are in position,” Emett said.

“Roger, Falcon Squadron,” said Command. “Target in range in T-minus fifteen, you are clear to engage. Civilians have been evacuated, so heavy ordinance is authorized. Just keep the target away from the sea, over.”

“Acknowledged,” said Emmet. Falcon Squadron lowered their flight path as land appeared in the distance, rapidly approaching. “Weapons hot--get ready to bring the rain.”

“Just rain?” said Falcon-4. “Today’s forecast calls for thunder!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, episode three bay-bee! I'm really excited for this one, because it's got quite a bit of world-building in it--but plenty of action too, of course! Hope you enjoy!


	2. Take to the Skies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During an encounter with a corrupted Gem, Falcon-1 has a close encounter of a different sort.

Chapter Two: Take to the Skies

\- - -

As the coastline came into view for the squadron, the signs of conflict could be seen. A ground team was already engaging the enemy, with explosions peppering the air above the land. Dark shapes could be seen darting above the troops.

“Vortex, I’ve got eyes on... _ something _ , but I can’t make it out,” said Falcon-3.

“I see it too, Jump,” said Vortex. He quickly radioed the team on the ground. “Fireteam X-Ray, this is Falcon Squadron. We are ready to engage, keep those hostiles in one place, over.”

“Falcon Squad, you couldn’t have picked a better time to show up!” a voice came in reply. “These things have us pinned down!”

“Thing _ s _ , plural?” said Jump. “They didn’t tell us there’d be more than--”

“Contact!” shouted Falcon-2, swerving to the side to avoid a shape suddenly appearing in front of him. The others did the same.

Vortex looked behind him as the shape passed him by. It resembled a giant stingray, slightly larger than their planes. It was a dark navy blue on top, while its underside was sky blue. “Target sighted, breaking off to engage!” He swiftly turned around to give chase.

Although it had no no obvious means of staying aloft, the corrupted Gem was able to keep pace with the jet. Vortex lined up the target, and pulled the trigger, riddling the creature with bullets. The barrage hit its target, but failed to poof the Gem, which used its wings to brake, turning back towards land.

“I’ve got it!” said Falcon-4, descending on the ray from above. He let loose a stream of gunfire, clipping through its wings. When it tried to evade, he dipped beneath it, sending another burst up into its underside.

Some of the machine gun fire slipped past the Gem, whizzing past Falcon-2. “Woah! Hey, Mayhem, watch the heat!”

“My bad!” said Falcon-4, Mayhem. “This thing blends in with the sky from underneath!” He flew closer to the Gem, making sure not to miss with his next barrage. The bullets cut through its form, and it fell down to the earth, its body disappearing in a cloud of smoke before it hit the ground.

“Ye-heah, Mayhem!” said Rattler. “Scratch one rock!”

“Vortex, I don’t have eyes on the gemstone,” said Jump. “Repeat, that’s no rock in the air.”

At that moment, several more stingray-shaped Gems descended from above, having been almost perfectly camouflaged against the cloudless sky. Most of them began divebombing the ground team, while three of them broke off to engage the fighters.

“No time for that, Jump, we’ve got company!” said Falcon-2.

“Three hostiles incoming,” said Vortex. “Falcon Squadron, pick a target and stick with it! Don’t let it give you the slip!”

Falcon Squadron broke formation and began pursuit of the targets. Falcon-2, Vortex, and Jump each engaged one of the pursuing Gems, while Mayhem and Rattler went after the ones attacking the troops.

Mayhem chased after a Gem, his gaze fixed on it almost as tightly as his targeting systems. He waited for a missile to gain a lock, and when the beeping was replaced by a steady tone, let one fly. The corrupted Gem whipped around, sailing over the projectile and the one who fired it. The missile sped onwards, exploding against the side of a mountain. “Bah! Things’re too quick!”

“Roger, sticking to MGs,” said Rattler.

Sticking as close to his target as he could, Vortex fired in short bursts, careful not to miss. The Gem’s wings were beginning to look frayed from the assault, but it still flew just as fast. Just as he was lining up the killing blow, Vortex caught sight of Falcon-2 flying past, a Gem clinging to his tail. “Tailspin, hostile on your six!” he said.

“Yeah, thanks, I noticed!” Falcon-2, Tailspin, shouted back. “She’s on me like a tick, I can’t shake her!”

Try as he might to evade it, the Gem continued clinging to Tailspin. The ray got above him, and its tail shot downwards, piercing through the metal of his fighter. It clung to his jet as he tried and failed to pull free from its grip.

“Now it’s  _ exactly _ like a tick!” Tailspin lamented. “Hang on--it’s pulling me down!”

With its stinger hooked tightly in place, the Gem began tugging Tailspin down towards the ocean. He fought against it, but it was just as strong as his plane, maybe stronger.

“Try and keep it still, I’m coming in!” said Jump, turning around to head towards him.

“You say that like it’s easy!” replied Tailspin. Nevertheless, he pulled against the Gem, holding both it and his plane as still as he could. Jump raced towards him, both planes facing the other.

Jump lined up the shot as he headed right at the Gem. Just feet away, he let loose a burst of gunfire, hitting it right between the eyes. Its physical form dissipated instantly, freeing Tailspin from its grip. He pulled upwards as Jump sped through the puff of smoke.

“Saved my ass again, Jump,” said Tailspin. “What’s that, seven times now?”

“Eight,” Jump corrected. “Vortex, that’s another stone unaccounted for.”

“Haven’t seen any over here, either,” said Mayhem.

“Not a one,” said Rattler.

Vortex was puzzled. Usually, his squad were experts at spotting the telltale glint of a gemstone falling to the ground. “If nobody’s seen any, then there aren’t any to see,” he said.

“But if they ain’t Gems, what are they?” asked Mayhem.

“Hey, uh, boss?” said Rattler. “Hate to interrupt this train of thought, but you notice anything weird?”

“No. Weird how?” Vortex asked.

“Weird in that it was clear skies a second ago, now it looks like a storm’s brewing,” answered Rattler.

His mind focused on the Gems, Vortex hadn’t noticed anything of the sort. But now that he looked around, he could see that the sky, recently cloudless for miles around, was now filled with clouds--dark grey ones at that. “Wind’s picking up, too,” he said. “Maybe a tropical storm?”

“Nah, we’re too close to land,” said Tailspin. “We’re missing something here.”

As he scanned the skies above him, Jump caught sight of something. A brief glimpse of shadow where there shouldn’t be. All of a sudden, everything clicked. “Team?” he said, sounding worried. “I think I just solved our weather problem  _ and _ our missing gem problem…”

“What’ve you got?” Mayhem asked.

“Look up.”

The other four pilots did so. The dark clouds now began to swirl around them, forming into a localized hurricane. Right above the eye, which was still free of clouds, there was a faint outline, almost imperceptible. A shape like a stingray the size of an aircraft carrier, its underside the same color as the sky.

“Ooh…” said Tailspin. “So  _ that’s _ what we’re dealing with…”

A bellowing cry rang through the air as the clouds grew darker still. Wind whipped over the planes as visibility dropped to nearly zero, only periodic flashes of lightning illuminating their surroundings. “Falcon Squad, what’s going on up there?” asked a frantic soldier over the radio.

“Fireteam X-Ray, you might want to get to shelter,” said Vortex. “Looks like we’re in for some rough weather…”

“We can’t take out something that size on our own!” said Jump. “Radio for backup, tell command to send in the heavy hitters!”

“We don’t need the heavy hitters, we have me!” said Mayhem, speeding up towards the Gem. He rapidly let loose every missile in his arsenal, laughing like a madman. As the missiles raced towards their target, a swarm of smaller rays appeared from the larger one, taking most of them. The swarm enveloped Mayhem, who cried out in alarm.

“Mayhem? Mayhem, respond!” said Jump. “Are you alright!?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m fine!” Mayhem replied, his voice undercut with static. “The little ones’re protectin’ their mama!”

“We need a plan,” said Rattler. She was nearly drowned out by the static. “Boss, any ideas? Boss?”

“What’s wrong?” asked Jump. “Vortex, respond! Vortex!”

“No good, the storm’s jamming our comms,” said Rattler. “But hey, if anyone can handle a storm like this, it’s Vortex.

Elsewhere, Vortex was trying to navigate the sudden storm. “Team, come in,” he said, trying to contact his squad, to no avail. “Do you read? Tailspin? Jump? Anyone, can you read me?” He sighed, turning off the radio. He was flying blind, almost literally. If not for his instruments, he couldn’t tell which way was up in this storm.

Realizing that the corrupted Gem was responsible for the storm, Vortex surmised that neutralizing it would cause the weather to normalize. There was still the matter of actually accomplishing this, though. Without his team, he was sure to be overwhelmed by the onslaught of its smaller spawn. Though given how they had gone downwards at Mayhem, there was a chance that it was defenseless from above. Vortex pulled back on the throttle, heading straight upwards.

Thunder exploded around him, and raindrops slammed against the canopy as Vortex headed above the storm. He half expected to run into the Gem, but instead found himself carried into a dense fog. The rain, thunder and wind stopped completely, but visibility was still impaired. Vortex took a moment to take in the quiet, before he attempted to radio his team again.

“Falcon Squadron, come in. Somebody, come in. Command, Fireteam X-Ray, does anyone read, over?” He only received static in reply. Vortex thumped the top of his dashboard in irritation, knowing that either he would have to face the Gem alone, or his team was facing it without him, neither option he particularly liked. He slowly began to descend, trying to find the target in the fog.

While he didn’t run into the Gem, Vortex did notice something in the distance. A steady orange light, glowing dimly and heading upward. Unsure of what this was, he headed over to get a better look. As he grew closer, he could make out a dark shape attached to the light. Suddenly, he realized that the light was very quickly glowing brighter. He swerved out of the way just as the dark shape flew past him.

Vortex turned around and gave chase. Whatever this thing was, it wasn’t a corrupted Gem. It seemed to be made of dark metal, with two slender wings facing out behind and slightly beneath it in a ‘V’ shape. It almost looked like a plane, but Vortex had never seen a plane like this before.

He tried the radio again. “Unidentified craft, this is Falcon-1 of BAINE. You are at the site of a current engagement, please respond.” He again got no answer, even though something should have gotten through at this distance. “Repeat, this is Falcon-1 of BAINE. Identify yourself immediately.”

Instead of a verbal response, the craft turned sharply to the right, almost as though trying to shake Vortex. He followed after it, to which it tried to corkscrew. He was barely able to keep up. Considering its ability to outmaneuver his own fighter, Vortex figured it had to be some sort of experimental fighter. His mind still locked in ‘combat mode,’ his first thought was of SEEN or the CoH.

“Okay then,” he said quietly. He triggered a lock onto the craft, which was now ascending. Suddenly, at no prompting, the lock broke off. Confused, Vortex assumed he must have broken it by accident, and pressed the button again. Just as before, the lock held for roughly three seconds, before being lost. Was the craft somehow jamming him?

Just before he could switch to machine guns, the cockpit was suddenly illuminated by a warning light. Vortex quickly checked his instruments, realizing that he was getting too high up. And yet, the craft ahead of him just kept going. Baffled and a little bit disappointed, Vortex disengaged, heading back down as the craft stayed its course. Its wings folded up against its main body, and it disappeared out of sight.

\- - -

Meanwhile, the rest of Falcon Squadron was being overwhelmed by the Gem’s spawn. “They just keep comin’!” yelled Mayhem.

Tailspin darted downwards to avoid one coming right at him. “We might have to do something drastic!” he said.

“I’ll give you drastic,” said Rattler. “I’m goin’ up there. Open fire on the big one!”

“Roger,” said Jump. As Rattler climbed, the three remaining pilots focused fire on the corrupted Gem. As Rattler had expected, this caused the smaller ones to swarm to its defense, blocking their attacks. This left the main body defenseless from above.

Rattler leveled out, speeding towards its face. “Bombs away!” She emptied her salvo, firing missile after missile into its face. It tried to dodge, but its large size made it too slow. Rattler skimmed its back, continuing to fire as she raced above it.

The beast’s tail lifted up, attempting to strike its attacker. Rattler fired one last missile, the explosion severing its stinger. The barb flew to the side, turning into smoke that was quickly blown away by the wind. The Gem let out one last bellow as it fell to the earth below.

Almost instantly, the storm began to clear. The wind slowed and the clouds dissipated, giving way to the clear skies that had greeted the squad. Jump looked up to see Vortex descending down to join them. “Wow, cap, you’re way off course,” he said. “How’d you end all the way up there?”

Vortex was quiet for a moment, his mind still fixed on the craft he had seen. “Did any of you pick up anything strange on your radar?” he asked. “Something beside the Gems?”

“Nothing in the air but us,” said Tailspin. “Even if their was, I was too busy focusing on the giant flying manta ray to notice.”

“It was a stingray, idiot,” said Mayhem. “Manta rays have those flappy things up front. Plus, mantas don’t have stingers. That’s why they call them ‘stingrays!’”

“Who cares what it’s called, it’s grounded now!” said Rattler. “Someone send in a retrieval crew.”

Another voice came through over the comms. “Falcon Squadron, do you copy? Our satellites picked up a major weather anomaly on top of your location. What happened down there?”

“We’re all good, Command,” said Jump. “Threat neutralized.”

“Glad to hear it. Form up and return to base.”

“Roger,” said Vortex. He and the others retook formation as they flew back to HQ. “Command...were any other anomalies detected in the area?”

“Negative. Just the sudden storm,” said Command. “Why?”

Vortex hesitated. “I...Back there in the storm, I thought I saw a...some kind of aircraft. I couldn’t get a good look, but it seemed really advanced.”

“An aircraft...Are you sure it wasn’t one of your wingmates?” Command asked.

“No, definitely not,” said Vortex. “This thing was way too maneuverable. It almost outflew me, and I couldn’t lock on. I tried to pursue, but it lost me in the stratosphere.”

For a second, Command didn’t respond. “Well, I can’t really say  _ what _ you saw, Falcon-1,” they said. “If it was an aircraft, I assure you we would have detected it.”

“I figured,” Vortex said quietly. “Roger that, command. Be back in twenty.”

“Hey, boss, you feelin’ okay?” asked Rattler. “You sure it wasn’t just one of those little Gems?”

“Definitely not,” Vortex said. “It was definitely a craft. I’m sure of it.”

“If it was a craft--and I’m not saying it was--what was it doing here in the first place?” wondered Jump.

“What, you think I know?” said Vortex. “But whoever sent it, they must be pretty interested in Gems.”

“Yeah, but who do we know that cares about Gems?” asked Tailspin.

“Well, there’s the Children of Homeworld, Polaris Industries, Mr. Echo…” said Rattler. “Hey, maybe it’s a Homeworld ship! They sent a few of those, yeah?”

“Yeah. Maybe something like that,” said Vortex. And he wasn’t so sure, but none of those seemed right. He stayed silent on the way back to base, unable to get the image of that orange light disappearing into the sky out of his mind.


	3. Not Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fireteam Victor receives a new assignment.

Chapter Three: Not Alone

\- - -

Once he arrived back at the base, Emett still couldn’t get the image of that retreating ship out of his head. He had seen a good number of aircraft in his time, and none of them looked anything like that. Maybe it was like his squadmates had said: maybe it was some sort of experimental prototype, or maybe it was a Homeworld ship. Whatever it was, though...why was it there?

Without his helmet, Emett had darker skin and short, dusty-brown hair. He sat in front of his locker, hearing the chatter of his teammates coming from the next room. Before long, they entered, Tailspin leading the group. “Something the matter, boss?” he asked. “‘Nother notch on the belt, you’re usually the one leading the celebrations.”

Tailspin, real name Leon Manning, was almost the exact opposite of Emett in terms of appearance. He was tall, blond, fair-skinned, and almost always wore a grin in contrast to the more business-minded Emett. “No, nothing’s wrong,” Emett lied. “Navigating that storm just took a lot out of me.”

“Well, it’s not like you haven’t done something like that before,” said Rattler, aka Sara Park. She was short but well-built, and her black hair was buzzed extremely short. “Remember Turkey?”

“I think  _ everyone _ here remembers Turkey.” This was Vladimir Lechkey, callsign Mayhem. He was the largest out of any of them, both in height and muscle mass. He was covered in scars, one of which was over his eye, giving it a glassy glaze. Some of these scars continued over onto the back of his head, on which he had no hair at all. “Hard to forget a day like that.”

“Especially since it was my first mission,” said Emett. He got to his feet, closing his locker. “You never forget your first mission...”

The five of them were silent for a moment, until someone changed the subject. “I’ve never seen a Gem like that before.” Rounding out the squad was Jump, real name Oscar Wright. “What do you think it was? Aquamarine? Larimar? Chrysocolla?” Oscar was shorter than Leon but taller than Emmet, and had very stiff features.

“Who cares? It’s done for now,” said Sara. “Leave that for the nerds in the lab to figure out!”

“I’m just glad everyone got out of there in one piece,” said Emett. “It seems like the corrupted Gems are getting more and more dangerous every year.”

“Tell me about it,” said Vlad. “It’s almost like the less of them there are, the angrier they get!”

“Which is why we need to have each other’s backs, now more than ever,” Emett continued. “BAINE’s list of enemies continues to grow, and the only way we can defeat them is if we stick togeth--”

“Ah, save the impassioned speeches for the battlefield, boss!” said Sara. “Come on, let’s head to the mess hall, I’m starved!”

The team began to file out of the room, with Leon staying behind for Emett. “You doing alright, Vortex?” he asked.

“I’m not Vortex when we’re on the ground,” Emett replied. “And yes, I’m doing just fine.”

Leon wasn’t so sure. “It’s that plane you saw up there, isn’t it? I can tell when someone’s been rubbed the wrong way, and that’s definitely something that would do it.”

Emett sighed. “I don’t know what it is about it,” he said. “I’ve never seen a vehicle like that before. I know it’s probably nothing, but I just can’t shake the feeling that it’s a bad omen somehow.”

“You should tell Command about it,” Leon suggested. “If it’s nothing, then it’s nothing. But if there really is someone out there watching us, then they need to know about it.”

“I’ll let somebody know,” Emett said, as the two followed the others. “Hopefully, though, this was just a one-time thing.”

\- - -

_ June 7, 2016. BAINE Headquarters, undisclosed location. _

“So, how are things with you?”

Agent of BAINE Ichigo Nakayama looked up at the voice. His fellow agent, Hester Albrecht had entered the room unseen. He was seated at a desk in the dimly-lit room, looking at a file filled with several photographs. “Not a whole lot,” he said. “What about you? I thought you were still training.”

Hester grinned. “Not much point in training when you’ve been doing this as long as we have. Besides, Bridge said you might need some help.”

“Help?” Ichigo chuckled. “I’m sorting pictures. It’s not exactly heavy lifting.”

“What exactly is he having you do here?” asked Hester, leaning over his shoulder to get a better look at the pictures. Most of them were hard to make out, but they shared one uniting factor: they appeared to be pictures of UFOs.

“Well,” Ichigo said, “you remember what Daniel told us about those fly guys last week? How one of them saw some sort of unidentified craft during a mission?” Hester answered in the affirmative. “For some reason, it’s got the higher-ups spooked. From what I hear, they’re taking this really seriously. I have no idea why this one sighting has them all riled up, but they’re beefing up investigations towards non-Gem extraterrestrial sightings.  _ Alleged _ sightings, I should say. And that is where I come in.”

“Let me guess, you’re sorting through them?” Hester said. “Alright. What do you have so far?”

“So,” Ichigo said, rubbing his hands together, “here’s how I’ve been breaking it down. I separate the pictures into three piles: ones that are obviously fake…” The pile contained a number of badly-edited pictures, UFOs that had visible strings or were made of cardboard, or were simply misidentified objects, like a weather balloon or a plane. “...ones that are obviously real…” This pile consisted only of three photos: a sleek starship that Pearl had constructed from scrap, the hand-shaped craft that had brought Peridot, Jasper, and Lapis to Earth, and the small red pod that a squad of Rubies had arrived in. “...and that just leaves the ones that can’t be verified. These are the ones that’ll require a more thorough investigation.”

This last pile was the largest, though only barely. Many of the pictures were blurry or dark, showing only small blips of what could very well have been some sort of spacecraft, but equally could have not. A very small number of these were recognizable as a vehicle of some kind, but whether Earthly or not, it was uncertain.

“Seems easy enough,” Hester said. “Just put those in the first pile.”

Ichigo looked up at her, confused. “You’re just gonna dismiss them, just like that?” he said. “What if they  _ are _ real?”

“Trust me, they’re not,” said Hester. “No way an alien would want to come out to a place like this.”

“Kind of an odd sentiment for someone who deals with aliens on a regular basis,” Ichigo pointed out.

“Yeah. Gems,” Hester said. “Throughout my time here at BAINE, I’ve never dealt with an alien that wasn’t a Gem. I’m sure they’re out there somewhere--just not on Earth.”

“But how can you be so sure?” said Ichigo. “Homeworld showed up here to invade thousands of years ago. Maybe some other race wants to do the same.”

“Yeah, I doubt it,” said Hester. “Given what the CGs have told us about Homeworld, I don’t think this theoretical other race would want anything to do with a planet that’s on their radar. Here, let me help you.”

Hester picked up a handful of photos, and began sorting through them. After a quick inspection, each one ended up in the ‘fake’ pile.

“Photoshopped. Weather balloon. Too blurry. Too dark. Okay, this one’s just from a video game--they even left in the watermark.” One by one, the pile of photos dwindled.

“Okay then, how about this one?” Ichigo said, holding one up. A bright yellow craft hovered above the desert, three fins floating behind it. “You can’t tell me this doesn’t look like a Gem ship, right?”

“Ich, the Gems were on this planet before,” said Hester. “It might just be left over from the war, or one of the CGs built it, something like that.”

“Fair enough...but what about this? You can’t tell me this one’s fake!” His next picture showed a dagger-shaped craft next to a large building in a crowded city. “Look at the definition! There’s no way that one’s a weather balloon!”

“See, that one’s too good to be real,” Hester said. “Literally. You don’t think if an alien ship went for a spin through a city there’d be no news coverage of it? Even if it  _ was _ covered up,  _ we’d _ have heard about it, right?”

“I guess...” Ichigo said. “But, aliens are...I mean, who knows what sort of crazy technology they have access to? Like radar jamming, or cloaking that makes them invisible to our eyes but not our cameras?”

“Sure, who knows?” Hester said. “Now, are we done, or are there more?”

“Oh, this was only the first group,” Ichigo said, pulling another file out from the desk. “There’s at least five more of these.”

Hester sighed. “Alrighty...better get started, then. Split ‘em up evenly, we’ll go through ‘em faster that way--”

Before they could begin sorting through the sightings, another figure entered the room. Rather, he leaned in through the door, his feet still in the hallway. “ _ There _ you are,” said Jonathan Vargas. “We’re heading out, Captain’s orders.”

Ichigo put down the pictures and stood up. “Where are we headed?” Hester asked.

“Gem sighting not far from here,” Vargas said, heading off towards the barracks. “Let’s move!”

“Eh, that was boring anyway,” Ichigo said. “Come on, what do you say we go deal with a  _ real _ alien?”

“Sounds good to me,” Hester said, as the two of them followed after their teammate. As they left, one of the pictures on the table fell to the ground. Taken from a seat inside a passenger jet, it showed a dark object hovering near the wing, with what seemed to be a pair of narrow wings sticking out behind it in a ‘V’ shape.


	4. Close Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During what should be a routine mission, things take an unexplainable turn.

Chapter Four: Close Encounter

\- - -

_ Abandoned Steel Mill, Southern Delmarva. _

As night began to fall, a convoy of trucks pulled up the road towards the long-abandoned building. Located at the edge of a forest far from any town, it was a wonder anyone had seen the corrupted Gem here at all.

The black vehicles came to a stop, and numerous armed soldiers spilled out. Aside from the sound of boots trudging and weapons loading, the area was completely silent. The soldiers stood guard in front of the gate, their weapons leveled in the event that the threat should make itself known.

Two of the figures stood beyond the others, one of them scanning the building with a device like a geiger counter. Only a few quiet clicks emanated from the device, to the apparent confusion of the other figure.

“Nothing?” he said. Daniel Bridge, BAINE Captain.

“Not  _ nothing _ , but not exactly  _ something _ , either,” said Hester, who was holding the device. “It could just be background radiation for all we know. You’re sure there’s a Gem here?”

“Positive,” said Bridge. “Civilian accounts say something big lives in these woods. Our satellite scans pinpointed this place as it’s nightly haunt. It’s in there, readings or no readings.”

“If you’re sure,” Hester said, putting the device away, and grabbing her sniper rifle from her back. “Ready to move in when you are, Captain.”

“Not you, I need you here on overwatch,” Bridge said. He stepped forward in front of the rest. “Listen up!” All the other soldiers stood at attention. “Intel says the Gem we’re after is somewhere inside this mill. Fireteam Victor will go in through the front entrance, and Fireteam Tango will go in through the back, hopefully preventing its escape. Fireteam Romeo will set up a defensive perimeter, We don’t know exactly what it is we’re up against, so proceed with caution. Roger?”

“Roger!” the agents responded.

“No!” said Daniel. “Agent Farroway, you’ll be taking point in the back, understood?”

“Oh. Understood, Captain,” said Roger Farroway.

“And Rook, you’re taking point in front.”

“Roger that,” said James Rook. The rest of Fireteam Victor, consisting of Ichigo, Vargas, and his close friend Lucas Svartign, took position behind him. Fireteam Tango, led by Farroway, headed around back, while Fireteam Romeo, plus Hester, filed back towards the trucks. Daniel approached James.

“Stay alert in there,” he told him. “We’ve got no idea what this thing’s capable of, but can supposedly do some pretty freaky stuff.”

“Freaky? Freaky how?” asked Rook.

“I’ll fill you in with the others once you’re all in position,” said Bridge, walking back to the trucks. “Good luck in there.”

“Ah, it’ll be a piece of cake!” said Luke. He and the others followed Rook through the rusted gate towards the front entrance. “It’s just one Gem, how bad can it be?”

“Don’t jinx it,” said Ichigo. “We might get one of the nasty ones. What if it’s a Nephrite, or something?”

“Nephrites bleed like all the rest,” said Vargas. Unlike the other three, who wielded standard-issue assault rifles, Vargas held a massive LMG. “Well, not literally. They don’t have blood--you get my meaning.”

“Don’t worry, big boy, I’m fluent in Vargas-ese,” said Ichigo, fixing a small detonator to the heavy metal door.

Soon, everyone was in position, ready to advance. Daniel’s voice crackled in over the radio. “Now, like I said, we don’t have a lot of information on this particular Gem. Intel says it’s pretty sizable, and may be able to fly--really fast. As in, absurdly fast. Something a modern aircraft could only dream about.”

“Maybe a Lazuli, then?” Luke wondered aloud.

“Tango, Victor, on my mark,” Bridge continued. “Three...two...one...breach!”

Ichigo pressed the detonator, and there was a small hiss. Rook gently slid the door open, a hole seared through the lock. Fireteam Victor switched on their lights, filing into the darkened building. They scanned through their surroundings: untouched for years, everything in the mill was covered with dust. Plantlife had begun to sprout through cracks in the floor and walls. Dark spots of mold littered the corners as well.

“Did I mention I hate old, abandoned places like this?” whispered Luke. “It’s like walking into a horror movie, just waiting for a slasher to jump out at you. Or a crazy hobo with a machete...”

“This place is definitely a bit more...cavernous that I was expecting,” said Rook. “I’m starting to think two fireteams won’t be enough to--I’m sorry, ‘crazy hobo with a machete?’”

“...Look, let’s just say I have a history with places like these,” Luke said. He shuddered, and the issue was dropped.

After a few more minutes of searching to no avail, Rook suddenly held up an arm, stopping the team in their tracks. “Hold on. I’ve got something here.” He stepped over to a wall, where there were a number of black splotches at around head-height. “Ichigo, I need your light.”

Ichigo stepped forward, focusing his flashlight into the marks as Rook set down his gun. “What’re we dealing with here, guy?” he asked.

Rook reached out a hand, tracing along the lowest mark. “Some sort of mold, maybe?” A small bit of black dust crumbled away from his touch. Not mold--ash. “Burn marks,” he said.

“So it flies, and it’s got...what, fire breath or something?” said Luke.

“Fire doesn’t drill holes into concrete,” said Rook. “Lightning might be closer, and even then, it would have to be super direct.” He picked his rifle back up. “Stay on your toes, I don’t know how our armor will fare against this thing.”

Suddenly, a loud clatter in the distance split the silence. All four troopers whirled around, their guns pointed in the direction of the noise. After the last quiet echoes of the sound had vanished, the mill seemed even more quiet than it had previously.

“Now I  _ really _ don’t like places like this,” Luke said.

The radio crackled to life, as if in response to the noise. “Victor, was that one of yours?” asked the voice.

“Negative, not on our end,” Ichigo responded. “Not one of yours then, I take it?”

“Definitely not,” replied the voice.

“In that case, converge on the location of the sound,” said Rook. “I think we just found our Gem.”

“Unlikely, Agent,” said the voice. “Meet in the center room, we’ll explain.”

Ichigo gave Vargas a quizzical glance, who shrugged. Rook directed the team forward. There were a few more isolated sounds on the way, none as piercing as the first, but each one made the troopers jump. Finally, they rendezvoused with Fireteam Tango, both teams substantially more on-edge then they had been before going in.

“Spooky in here, yeah?” said Farroway.

Rook wasted no time in getting to the point. “What did you mean by ‘not likely?’” he asked.

Farroway wordlessly nodded to one of the troopers on his team. The trooper stepped forward, holding out his hand to reveal a glinting blue object--a gemstone.

Vargas leaned in to examine in. “You’re kidding me,” he said.

“‘Fraid not,” said Farroway. “Found this baby just lying on the floor, next to a bunch of burn marks.”

Rook looked up from the gem. “You found marks too?”

“Yeah, all over the wall,” said one of the troopers. “Some on the floor, too. No idea what made them, but it couldn’t have been her.” She pointed to the stone.

Upon seeing the gem, Ichigo’s eyes had wandered in the direction of the sounds. He said what everyone was thinking: “So, if our Gem here didn’t make those sounds...who, or what, did?”

“No idea, but I’m calling this in,” said Rook, turning on his radio. “Captain, we’ve secured the Gem. What are your orders?”

“Already?” Bridge replied, baffled. “I didn’t hear any gunfire, was there even a struggle?”

“None, we just found it lying out in the open,” said Farroway. “Some weird stuff’s goin’ on in here, Cap.”

“Did the intel mention anything about multiple Gems?” asked Vargas.

“Not specifically,” said Bridge. “Why?”

“Captain, we’re not alone in here,” said Rook. “Permission to continue our investigation.”

“What!?” said Luke. “I’m sorry, why?”

Bridge was quiet for a moment as he deliberated. “Granted,” he said. “Send someone out with the Gem. We have the perimeter locked down, so whoever’s in there isn’t getting away. Flush them out for us.”

“Will do,” said Rook. Farroway directed a pair of troopers to take the Gem outside. With that, only seven of them were left.

“James, we already got what we came here for,” said Luke. “Why stay here any longer than we need to? It’s probably just a cat anyways.”

“A cat with laser eyes?” said Rook. “Those burns came from somewhere, and I think it’s safe to say we ruled out our only suspect. This could be the Children of Homeworld‘s doing, and if they’re here, we need to know about it.”

“I’m with Rook,” said Vargas, leveling his weapon. “Let’s go hunting.”

The two teams, now one, set off in the direction of the noises. Ever since they had found the gemstone, the area had gone silent again. “Hey, maybe they left already,” said Ichigo.

“Better safe than sorry,” said Rook.

Before long, the troops arrived at the entrance to a large room on the mill’s eastern side. Rook and Farroway both took a place beside the double doors, and carefully opened them. The creak of metal-on-concrete was only moderately loud, but it felt deafening given their situation.

Firearms at the ready, the soldiers entered. The large, open space was unsurprisingly devoid of movement, with nothing out of the ordinary found as they shone their flashlights across it. A sheet of metal was lying on the ground, explaining the first noise. But there was nothing nearby that could have tipped it over.

“Spread out,” said Rook. “If whoever’s in here left, Romeo would have seen them. They’re still in here.”

“I dunno, I feel like you’re giving these guys way too much credit,” said Ichigo.

“You know what the Children are capable of,” Rook said. “We can’t let them get past us. Sweep the area, and don’t--Vargas? What is it?”

Vargas had stepped forward, gun up. He stared forward as though transfixed on one specific spot. “Something’s in here,” he said.

“What sort of something?” asked Farroway.

“Don’t know,” he said. “Hey!” Everyone jumped at his sudden shout. “Come out! We know you’re in here, don’t make this harder than--”

A flash of light came from the other side of the room. Something struck Vargas, who staggered to the floor.

“Contact!” Rook wasn’t sure who yelled it. It might’ve been him. What he did know what that right then, all hell broke loose. More flashes of light from the other side as the troopers dove for cover. He could just make out a large dark shape do the same. The soldiers returned fire, unaware of what they were even firing at. Vargas crawled into cover beside Rook.

“Vargas! Are you injured?” he asked. “What did they hit you with?”

“No idea, but my armor stopped it,” Vargas said. He indicated his shoulder, which now bore a burn mark identical to the ones on the wall.

Rook leaned out of cover to fire a burst at the unidentified enemies. It was hard to make them out when the only light came from the muzzle flashes, but they seemed to be big--too big to be human. He could make out a voice barking what he imagined were orders in a language he couldn’t recognize. The voice was far too deep and guttural to belong to a human.

Once again, the radio came on. “Fireteams, what’s going on in there!?” shouted Bridge. “Who are you engaging?”

“Backup, we need backup!” Ichigo said frantically. “We’re under attack by Martians! It’s War of the Worlds all over again!”

The unknown being said something else in its guttural language, and the firing seemed to lessen. Aside from a few shots of covering fire, the barrage wasn’t as intense as it had been. Rook leaned out of cover just in time to see a scaly green tail escaping out an open door.

“What’s going on? Who are you engaging!?” said Bridge. “Fireteams, respond! Rook!? Farroway!?”

Hester picked up her sniper rifle. “Just give the word, and we’ll run in,” she said.

“We have to, they’re pinned down in there,” said Bridge. “Fireteam Romeo, engage hostiles!”

Before the troopers had any time to gear up, a loud hum rang through the night. Everyone’s attention was drawn to the roof of the building, where the sound was coming from: It was a ship. The air rippled as it materialized seemingly from nowhere, as it rose into the air. Those that didn’t immediately begin to panic stared at it in awe. The craft, about the size of a helicopter, sprouted a pair of narrow wings behind it as it rose into the sky. The soldiers inside ran out just in time to see it disappear.

For a good long while, nobody spoke. It was Ichigo who ultimately broke the silence: “Hey, James?”

“What?”

“Something tells me that wasn’t the Children of Homeworld…”


	5. Watching the Skies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With confirmation that the threat is real, BAINE decides what to do next.

Chapter Five: Watching the Skies

\- - -

_ June 9, 2016. BAINE Headquarters. _

Director Mills spun around in his chair to face the numerous captains seated at the table. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “it’s official: we’ve recently had our first undeniable contact with organic extraterrestrial life.”

A murmur broke out among those present. There had been rumors that UFOs had been spotted recently, but nothing was confirmed until now. None of them were really sure where this would lead, as the only aliens they had encountered until this point were Gems. One of the only one who was completely silent was Daniel. He had been there, and he had seen this ship firsthand. Nobody, not him, not anyone under his command, had been able to do anything other than watch it leave.

“Do we know if they’re hostile?” asked another captain to Daniel’s left. “We shouldn’t act until we know for certain if they mean us any harm.” A few others agreed.

Mills nodded. “We only have a select few encounters to go off of, but we can at least infer that they do not have our best interests at heart. The most recent of these encounters shows us that they are definitely willing to fire on our troops. Gentlemen, if you would?”

Aside from Mills and his captains seated at the table, two other men were also present. James Rook and Emett de Santis stood by the wall, waiting to be brought up. At Mills’ direction, the two of them stepped forward.

“These are Agents Rook and de Santis,” Mills explained. “Agent Rook was present at the steel mill two days ago, and Agent de Santis had an encounter with an alien craft a week ago, the very same encounter that brought this issue to our attention to begin with. We’ll start with Mr. de Santis; would you please explain what happened to the board?”

Everyone’s attention was now focused on the two men. James stood off to the side, lost in thought, while Emett stood at attention, facing the others. “It started out as a routine mission,” he explained. “Me and the rest of my squadron were called in to aid a ground team with eliminating a Gem monster. We engaged several hostels before realizing that the actual Gem was--” He shook his head. “Anyway, the Gem was capable of manipulating the weather, and created a massive storm. I attempted to climb above the storm, and got separated from my squadron. Eventually, I...I saw a light. I went closer to investigate, and it was a craft of some sort.”

“Did it resemble the craft seen by Fireteam Romeo, by any chance?” asked another captain. “Greyish, orange lights, two wings that folded up to its side?”

“Exactly the same,” said Emett. “For all I know, it could be the same exact ship.”

“That is a possibility, but unlikely, given the sheer amount of sightings,” said Mills. “Agent Rook, could you please share your encounter?”

“Uh, I’m sorry Director--’sightings’?” said Bridge. “I was unaware that there were more than two encounters with these beings.”

“There were, outside of BAINE,” explained Mills. “I’ll wait for Dr. Rhodes to explain. Now, James, if you would?”

Rook looked up from his introspective. “I mean, what can I say that hasn’t already been said?” he said. “We went into the mill looking for a Gem, and we found one--it had already been poofed. We went to investigate some noise, and eventually something shot at us. Wasn’t human, that much should be obvious. Couldn’t tell what these things looked like, but they’re definitely bigger than a person. Pretty sure I saw a tail as one of them was leaving.”

“And there you have it,” said Director Mills. “Of those present during that day’s shootout, Agent Rook was the one who got the best look at the aliens, which unfortunately doesn’t leave us with much. However, as I mentioned before, this is not all the information we have.” He spoke into a device. “Edmund, we’re ready for you in here.”

The doors opened, and in walked Edmund Rhodes, along with Gina Packard. The two of them stepped over to where James and Emett had been standing, who awkwardly backed off to the back of the room. Rhodes nodded in Mills’ direction. “Director,” he said. “Everyone.”

“Now, Dr. Rhodes, you tell me you have some troubling information regarding these recent sightings,” said Mills. “Could you explain that to the board here?”

“I wouldn’t say they’re ‘troubling’ per se, but they’re definitely cause for concern,” said Rhodes. “And really, Gina was the one in charge of the data. Gina, do you want to present, or should I?”

“I’ll handle it,” Gina said. “Captains--and Director--please turn your attention to the screen.” She pressed a button on a remote. The lights dimmed, and a screen descended from the ceiling. When it turned on, it displayed a map of the world. “As you are most likely aware, but may not be, BAINE is tasked with monitoring all extraterrestrial activity on Earth, not just that of Gems. Up until now, this only included collecting and archiving sightings of possible alien spacecraft. To put matters in perspective, this is a collection of all the sightings we collected in the past three years, from 2013 to 2015.”

Gina pressed a button on the remote, and a scattering of red dots appeared on the map, particularly in rural areas. There were a fair number of them, but they were far from covering the entire thing. After a moment, she pressed the button again. This time, a mass of yellow dots appeared; far more of them than of the red, and many of them were located in more populated areas, but not all of them.

“And this,” she continued, “is a collection of sightings from this year so far. As you can see, there have been almost four times as many reported UFO sightings in the past five months than in the last three years combined. We can’t verify that all of them are from the same beings seen by our two guys here, but it stands to reason that a good deal of them are.”

More murmurs from the board. “This is bad. Shouldn’t we alert the Gems?” said one of the captains.

“I have two of my agents down in Beach City as we speak,” said Bridge. “I told them to ask for help if they could, but we might not get any.”

“Indeed,” Mills said. “With Homeworld’s return possible and Jasper still on the loose, they have their hands full. Unless these beings attack us in earnest, the Crystal Gems have more important matters to deal with.”

“There’s also the matter of the other encounters,” Gina said. “Eddie, you take this one.” She tossed him the remote.”

“Thank you, Gina. Now, while most of the sightings indicated on this map were just that, lights in the skies and the like, a few of them were a little closer than that.” He pressed a button on the remote, and the image changed to that of a burn mark on a wall. Rook recognized it as one of the ones from inside the mill. “Up until now, the only evidence we had of this being an extraterrestrial issue was burn marks identical to these, reported by several employees of Polaris Industries.”

Rook quietly approached Gina. “Are Polaris still enemies with us?” he asked.

“Hard to say,” Gina replied. “Ever since the Children of Homeworld went underground, St. Augustine hasn't tried to contact us, and he hasn’t replied to any of our attempts. But they’re definitely collecting Gem monsters and tech, which was against our agreement.”

“It had been reported that several sites of valuable material had been raided. At first, we suspected that it was the Children of Homeworld, as before, but the presence of enhanced guard patrols suggests that St. Augustine is not in league with them anymore. Also, our inside man informed us that burn marks identical to the ones in the mill were found at some of the sites.”

“We have a man inside Polaris!?” Rook asked in hushed disbelief.

“We do now,” Gina said. “He came forward several months ago, claiming he was disillusioned with how St. Augustine was running the place. It’s strictly need-to-know.”

“As you can see, the marks are nearly identical,” Rhodes continued, the screen now showing several pictures of the burn marks side by side. “We ran some tests on the marks found in the mill, and learned that they were most likely formed by some sort of high-aperture laser weapon. Now, here’s where the interesting part comes in: what little we’ve learned about Gem weapons indicate that they also use high-aperture lasers. And under the right circumstances, they create marks just like these.”

“So...what does this mean?” asked Bridge. “That these aliens were using Gem weapons?”

“We wondered that too, but we figured it was unlikely,” Rhodes said. “However, given that we have reverse-engineered some weapons of our own out of Gem tech--more on that in a minute--it stands as a possibility that these beings have done the same.”

“Which could be why they’re on Earth,” a captain said. “To collect samples of Gem equipment without having to deal with any actual Gems.”

“My thoughts exactly,” said Rhodes. “Of course, we can’t be sure until we’ve…” He trailed off. “Nevermind, it’s stupid.”

“No it isn’t,” said Gina. “Eddie, tell them what you have planned.”

“It’s not so much a plan as it is a general idea,” Rhodes continued. “But unless the Gems know exactly who we’re up against, the best way to figure out who they are and what they want would be to capture one. Easier said than done, of course.”

“That it is,” said Mills. “Now then, with this new threat on the horizon, Dr. Rhodes has asked me to present several projects he has been working on. Agent Rook, Agent de Santis, I’m afraid this is above your clearance level for the time being. You are excused.”

Emett nodded, and James replied with a curt “Of course, Director,” and both of them stepped out. Once they had left, Rhodes pressed a button on the remote once more.

“Let’s start off with one of my favorites,” he said. “I call this baby the Quartzbreaker…”

Rook and de Santis made their way down the hall away from the conference room. The former didn’t pay the latter much attention until he broke the silence. “So, apparently we have a mole in Polaris,” he said. “And there’ve been several alien attacks on Polaris facilities. What else do you think they aren’t telling us?”

“If they’re keeping anything from us, then it’d be for a good reason,” said James. “They’ll tell us what we need to know. That’s why it’s called a need-to-know basis.”

Emett gave him a curious look. “So, you trust all of them?”

“I trust my commanding officer,” James said. “Why? Do you not?”

“I trust who I know, and I don’t know any of them,” replied Emett. “Who I do know, though, is my team, and I have to look out for them.”

“If it’s looking out for your team that concerns you, I’m sure you’d get along fine with Bridge,” said James. “You can trust him, which means you can trust the rest of them.”

“I suppose I  _ have _ to trust them, given the position we’re in,” said Emett. “Can I trust you?”

James nodded. “Of course. I imagine we’ll be getting to know each other pretty well, given our shared encounters.”

“Sounds about right,” Emett said. He was quiet for a moment. “Oh! I just realized, we were never introduced. I’m Emett, Emett de Santis, Vortex in the air. I’m the leader of Falcon Squadron.”

“James Rook. I’m under Captain Bridge in Fireteam Victor.” The pair shook hands.

\- - -

_ Beach City. _

“Why are you here, anyway?”

Two figures sat at a table outside of a shop on the pier, while a third stood nearby. One was the smaller form of Ichigo, sitting across from the much larger form of Garnet. Leaning against the wall was the similarly large (for a human) Vargas. The humans were dressed in casual clothes to better blend in.

“I told you, I wanted to ask about some aliens,” Ichigo said. “I figured of all the Gems, you’d be best suited to answer them, and not just ‘cause of your psychic eye.”

“I mean why are you  _ here _ here?” Garnet asked. “We could have met anywhere, why Beach City?”

“Because I wanted some ice cream,” Ichigo said, motioning towards the shop. “What’s the issue? This just saves time for you, since you don’t have to warp as far.”

“Steven could see you,” she said. “I’ve told you before, I don’t want Steven getting involved with BAINE.”

“Not even with Homeworld coming back?”

“Homeworld doesn’t use guns,” Garnet said bluntly.

Ichigo raised his arms. “Alright, we’re getting off track. Like I said, the real reason we’re here is because some of our guys had some close encounters recently. Now, both of your components served Homeworld before meeting and becoming you, right? Do either of them know anything about some of the various species that Homeworld encountered?”

Garnet adjusted her glasses. “Yes, but I doubt any of it would be helpful. Sapphire, as a strategist, was called in numerous times by Blue Diamond to advise her regarding hundreds of species. It's likely that one of those species is the one you’re looking for, but actually finding which one it is would be incredibly difficult. They all started to blend together after a while.”

“Okay,” Ichigo said. “And Ruby?”

Before Earth, the only non-Gem life Ruby had to deal with was a Kalderian incursion into Homeworld-controlled space, and even then she was never on the front lines. Tell me, do you know who the Kalderians are?”

“Uh...no,” Ichigo replied.

“Then they aren’t the ones responsible,” Garnet continued. “If they were, they would make sure you know without a shadow of a doubt that they were who you were dealing with.”

Ichigo thought for a moment, before he pulled out his phone. “This picture was taken in Brazil a few days ago,” he said. “We believe it’s one of the same variety that’s been going around. Does it look familiar?”

Garnet leaned in closer, squinting as she tried to make out the shape. “Not in the slightest,” she answered.

“Hmm…” Ichigo wracked his brain to try and recall some other info. “Alright, well, we know that they use high-aperture laser beams. Do you know of any other species that uses--”

“Do you have even the  _ slightest _ idea how common high-aperture lasers are for spacefaring races?” said Garnet. “It’d be simpler to list the ones that  _ don’t _ .” Ichigo slumped back in his chair, defeated. “Look, I’ll ask Peridot about it. Maybe she knows more about aliens than I do.”

“I hope so, because we’re pretty in the dark otherwise,” said Ichigo. “You’re sure your future vision doesn't show you anything? Some sort of invasion, or something?”

“I told you, I can only see  _ possible _ futures,” said Garnet. “Unfortunately, it’s possible that any number of species could invade Earth, given how important it seems to be to Homeworld. I’m sorry, Ichigo, but you’re on your own. We still haven’t found Jasper, Homeworld just sent a probe to find her, and I’m still not entirely convinced that Lapis doesn't still hate us. Unless your mystery aliens launch a full-scale invasion, we have our hands full.”

“It’s alright, we’ll figure something out,” Ichigo said. “We figured out SEEN, we figured out the Children, we can figure out some aliens. ...Welp, I think I’ll get a sundae. You want anything? I’ll pay.”

“I don’t eat,” Garnet said.

“Right, right, I remember. Vargas, you want--”

“No.”

“Alright then. More for me.”


	6. Breadcrumbs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> BAINE starts tracking the invaders' movements with hopes of learning more about them.

Chapter Six: Breadcrumbs

\- - -

_ June 10, 2016. _

Daniel, alone, walked down the dark hallway, deep underground. The dim lights reflected off his face and beard, giving him a ghostly look. Which was also how he felt inside; dealing with the Children of Homeworld just earlier that year, and now aliens, it took it out of you.

A pair of guards placed beside a set of double doors said nothing as he approached, silently opening the doors without Daniel even needing to break his stride. The room these doors lead into was better-lit than the hallway that led to it, but traded off for a sterile white look that was almost as unsettling. This room’s lone occupant, who was sealed behind a glass barrier, didn’t seem to mind though.

Upon hearing the captain enter, the deathly pale prisoner turned around, grinning as he saw who it was, though his scowling, two-colored eyes showed he wasn’t happy. “Ah, I see I have a visitor,” said Aster White. “Welcome, Mr. Bridge.”

“Good to see you again, Mr. White,” Daniel said, the look on his face making it clear he was in no mood for games. “You seem uncharacteristically happy today.”

“You will address me as ‘The Radiant One’, heretic,” he said, his smile vanishing.

“I’ll address you as whatever I like,” Daniel shot back. “You’re lucky I care enough to call you by name. Now, if you’re in the mood, I have a few questions.”

“Poor, simple nonbeliever,” said Aster, shaking his head in mock sympathy. “You and your organization can’t handle the responsibilities of protecting this planet, so you defer to me. If you had let the Diamonds’ will take its course, we would not be in this situation right now.”

“Yeah, we wouldn’t be here at all,” said Daniel. “Now listen: you and your nutty little club knew all sorts of secrets about the Diamonds and whatnot. Did any of your writings mention anything about beings from outside our world? Aliens, beings that weren’t Gems?”

Aster made a sound that was halfway between a laugh and a scoff. “They’ve come, haven’t they? Visitors from beyond the stars. Tell me, have they begun the invasion?”

Bridge was taken aback. He shot Aster a quizzical look. “How did you know about that?”

“I know many things,” Aster said, shrugging. “I know that these visitors are giving BAINE quite a hard time.”

“Not really,” Daniel said. “Right now we’re just trying to figure out who they are, and what they want. Which is why I came here. You seem like you know something; now spill it.”

“I know more than you ever will,” said Aster, “but the nature of these beings are unfortunately not one of them. I do not know who they are or what they want, only that they would come.”

“And what exactly is your source on that?” asked Daniel.

“That I cannot say. Just know that I have no reason to lie to you.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

Aster got to his feet, stepping closer to the glass. “You see the Children as a force of destruction. But we are so much more than that, Mr. Bridge. It is our sacred duty to protect this planet from all who would seek to do it harm. If a race aside from Gemkind would destroy it, we would be unable to ascend. If I knew anything to help save this planet from disgraceful annihilation, I would tell you so. But I see no need to.”

“Oh, you don’t think this warrants your cooperation?” said Daniel. “Where do you get off, acting like the epitome of human achievement?”

This comment seemed to hit a nerve, but Aster did his best to hide his frustration. “Because, as the Radiant One, I am exalted. I was chosen by the Diamonds to lead this world to salvation. My appearance alone should persuade you of this.”

“Yeah, because being an albino with heterochromia automatically means that you get to decide the fate of--”

While staring directly at Daniel, Aster reached down and pulled the collar of his shirt to show his chest. This revealed a splotchy red birthmark across his skin. Looking closer at it, the seemingly random shape seemed to be a triangle, flat across the bottom. No, it almost looked like an upside-down diamond. A pink diamond. Daniel’s sentence died in his throat.

“And now do you see?” Aster said. “I am the chosen. I alone decide the fate of this world, not you. The Diamonds decreed it. Unless an outside force threatens the human race, you will receive nothing from me.”

Daniel slammed a fist onto the glass. “Is an  _ alien invasion _ not enough of a threat for you!?”

Not taking his eyes off of Daniel, Aster sat back down. “It is as I said, Mr. Bridge: you know nothing.”

Letting out a frustrated growl, Daniel turned his back on the prisoner, stomping out of the room. As he traveled back to the surface, he cursed himself for thinking that their old enemy would be willing to help.

\- - -

_ June 19, 2016 _ .

“Feels like just yesterday we were doing this exact same thing,” said Gina, staring at the computer screen. It displayed the map of the world with all reported alien sightings. “Staying up late to stop the end of the world.”

“I wouldn’t go that far just yet.” While Gina stood, Edmund sat beside her, sipping from a cup of coffee. “Whatever these things are, it doesn’t seem like they’re directly attacking anyone. Only when someone gets in their way.”

“And what exactly  _ is _ their way?” Gina asked nobody. “What do they want? Why are they here if they aren’t invading?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” said Rhodes. “At the very least, we know more about them than we did the Cluster.”

“Yeesh,” said Gina, remembering the sleepless nights she had spent just trying to find a way to find the thing. “Now that was a cluster of a different kind, I’ll tell you that.”

Rhodes spun his chair towards the screen, which he scanned over. “Like you said, most of the sightings are near Polaris stockpiles. They’re definitely after Gem tech.”

“But that doesn’t explain everything else,” she said. “If they’re after Gem tech, why land at an abandoned steel mill?”

“Well, there was a corrupted Gem there,” Rhodes said. “It’s possible they’re going for anything Gem related. Maybe corrupted Gems are easier to handle than regular ones.”

“That would certainly explain why there haven’t been any sightings in the general Delmarva area,” Gina said. “So, let’s assume that whoever these guys are, they want to get their hands on Gem stuff. Right?”

“Right.”

“And it seems like they have a pretty impressive way of locating it, because there’ve only been a few firefights involving them. They seem pretty good at finding the tech, getting it, and getting out. If they weren’t, there would be way more encounters.”

“Sounds about right.”

“So what about all these other sightings? Siberia, the Gaza Desert, the middle of the freakin’ ocean? No Gem tech left in any of those places. And these weren’t just lights in the skies, either, these were reported as full-on sightings. Intel says these were just as quick and efficient as the other ones. What’re they after there?”

“The ocean, huh?” Rhodes shrugged. “Maybe they like fishing.”

Gina typed at the computer. “Heh, funny you should mention that,” she said. “It was a fishing boat that the sighting came from. Apparently, that part of the Pacific is supposed to be rich in tuna.” As she looked at the screen, something seemed to click in her brain. She began typing away furiously, looking closer at every corner of the map.

Rhodes noticed the sudden change in her demeanor. He stood up. “What is it? Did you find something?”

“I’m in the process of finding something,” she said. “Aha! Look, there!” She pointed at the screen. “That sighting in Siberia? Apparently, there’s an old nuclear material storehouse from the Seventies not far from that location. And the one by the Gaza Desert took place just outside an abandoned oil field. T-the more I look at it, the more it looks like these sightings aren’t random at all.”

She continued to scan the sightings across six continents, each one near something seemingly innocuous. Lumber mills, factories, and especially farms. The more remote, the more likely the beings were to show up there. “Cripes, it’s a free-for-all,” said Rhodes. “They’re not after Gem stuff, they’re after  _ stuff _ , period.”

“Exactly,” said Gina. “Every single one of these sightings is near some sort of resource center. Fossil fuels, metals, nuclear materials, meat, even lumber--they’re taking it all. This is great!”

Rhodes gave her an odd look. “Great?” he said. “The Earth’s being stripped clean by spacemen, how is that great?”

Gina grinned. “It’s great because now, we know how to find them. We can use this to figure out where they’ll strike next.”

\- - -

_ June 24, 2016 _ .

Each day, more and more sightings of mysterious lights in the skies poured in. BAINE did their best to cover them up, while simultaneously adding them to the database. 

“Got a new one for ya!” Tablet in hand, Hester entered the room, where Gina and Edmund looked over their data.

“Thanks,” said Edmund, glancing up at her. “What’ve we got this time?”

Hester placed the tablet down after sending the info into the main computer. “Got a farmer from Azalea who says some of his cows were stolen by, and I quote, ‘a gol-dern crocodilly with a ray gun.’ His words, not mine.”

“So, they’re rustling cattle now,” Gina said. “There’s no telling if or when they’ll move up to abducting humans.”

“You know,” Hester said, leaning up against a nearby table, “you’d think an advanced alien race like this wouldn’t need to steal resources from other planets. If they’ve managed interstellar travel, why would they need wood?”

“Who knows?” said Edmund. “The only way we’re really going to learn anything about these beings is if we can find a way to communicate with them. And it looks like the only way we’re going to be able to do that is to capture one.”

“And to do  _ that _ , we’ll need to pinpoint exactly where it is they’re going to strike,” Gina said. Using the new data they had acquired over the past few days, she started to formulate a plan. “Alright, I think I have something. Look at this.”

“What’s up?” Hester and Edmund looked over her shoulder at the screen.

“”There’s more of a pattern here than we thought,” explained Gina. The computer displayed a graphic of the sightings chronologically. “They started up north, and they’re sweeping across the globe in an eastern and southern path. It looks like they’re almost through with the states.”

“Well, what happens when they’re done?” asked Hester. “They just leave us alone?”

“Who knows?” said Rhodes. “All the more reason to ask them ourselves.”

“And I think I know just how to do that.” Gina zoomed in on an area in southern Lonestar; the site of an abandoned Polaris storehouse. “Hester, go and get the rest of the team--it’s time we struck first for a change.”


	7. From Above, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now with an idea of the invaders' motives, BAINE sets up an ambush for the mysterious beings.

Chapter Seven: From Above, Part 1

\- - -

_ June 27, 2016. _

Several of BAINE’s soldiers gathered in Rhodes’ research room, prepared for a briefing by Captain Bridge, who had been granted oversight of this particular assignment. All that was known was that there had been some sort of breakthrough regarding the strange visitors’ motives, but even that was mostly rumors. The troops speculated amongst themselves what was going on.

“So,” Lucas asked James, “You’re the one who got the best look at it. What did it look like, exactly?”

“I told you, all I saw was a tail,” James replied. “It was dark, I couldn’t make out much.”

“Then how do you know it was a tail?” said Lucas. “Maybe it was a tentacle. Hell, it could’ve been a ponytail, for all we know. Maybe they braid their hair really long, who are we to say?”

“It wasn’t a braid,” James grumbled.

To James’ relief, Daniel soon made his appearance before the troops, quieting them down. “Alright,” he said, “everyone listen up. I know you’re all excited--for lack of a better word--so let’s get things going.” He nodded at Rhodes and Gina, prompting them to make their way over to him. He continued. “As it stands, these beings aren’t known to be as big of a threat as SEEN or the Children of Homeworld were, but because we know so little about them, they have the potential to be even more dangerous. This is compounded by the fact that what little we do know suggests that their technology, while nowhere near as advanced as Gem tech, is a good deal more advanced than our own, and that they are willing to attack human beings if it comes to it. I’ll let these two explain further.”

Bridge stepped aside, letting Rhodes take the stage. “Thanks, Captain.” He cleared his throat, addressing the soldiers. “Like Daniel says, we know very little about these invaders. We do know that while they prefer to avoid human contact when they can, they will not hesitate to fire on any humans that they do contact, as some among us know all too well.”

“Got that right,” a trooper to James’ right muttered; he recognized him as a member of Fireteam Tango.

“Now, our informant inside Polaris has informed us that several incidents have resulted in a brief firefight with the invaders, much like has happened at the steel mill,” he continued. “Fortunately, contact with civilians has been limited, and we have teams doing their best to cover up encounters. But more to the point: we’ve spent the last several days examining the sightings, and we believe we have found several patterns. Gina, you figured this out--want to take this one?”

“Sure,” Gina said with a shrug, taking his spot. “Ahem... Sightings of lights in the skies are nothing new, and have been on BAINE’s radar for decades. However, it wasn’t until the start of this year that sightings of potential UFOs increased exponentially, many of them matching the description of the one seen by Fireteams Victor, Tango, and Romeo. Like Eddie said, we managed to pick out a few patterns.”

She pressed a button on a remote, causing the screen behind her to display the same map of the world she and Rhodes had been studying, complete with dots to indicate recent sightings.

“We noticed a few very specific patterns,” Gina continued. “First of all, you’ll notice that Delmarva and surrounding states have far less sightings than everywhere else, despite the large number of people. Likewise, our informant in Beach City has informed us that very few residents, if any, even know about this phenomenon.”

“Not even that conspiracy nut kid?” asked one of the soldiers.

“Not even him,” said Gina. “This leads us to believe that the aliens somehow know about the Crystal Gems and where they’re based, and are intentionally avoiding them. We don’t yet know how they know this, but our best guess is that they have some method of scanning the planet from orbit. Which leads me into our next point...”

She turned towards the screen, pointing out the various dots.

“Each of these sightings was found to be near some sort of resource site. That is, some sort of foundry, mill, storage facility, mine, even farms. We finally figured out what they’re after: Earth’s resources. Only instead of taking them by force, usually, at least, they’re taking them in secret, under the cover of night.”

A quiet murmur was sent out through the soldiers again. “So...they’re just thieves?” asked one of them. “ _ That’s _ why they’re here?”

“I could understand if they were taking important stuff, like...I dunno, not stuff like farm animals,” said another. “What’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is, they’re still stealing Earth’s resources, and attacking humans when they get in their way,” said Edmund. “And we still don’t know what they are, or if they have an endgame. We do have an idea on where they’ll strike next, though. Gina?”

“Our research has shown that there is another pattern in their strikes,” Gina said. “Their hits on these resource-heavy centers go from west to east, and north to south. They’re going in a roughly circular pattern around the globe. And one spot they haven’t hit yet is right here.” She pressed a button, and the screen zoomed in on the area in question. “This is Polaris Site Seventeen, an old warehouse in Lonestar. It was abandoned a few years ago, but we have reason to believe it still contains plenty of old Gem tech. The invaders are unlikely to pass up an opportunity like this one, given what we know about them. Given the path of their attacks, they’ll reach this site in several days, which will give us plenty of time to set up our defenses.”

“And that’s our plan,” said Bridge, retaking the spot in front of everyone. “The aliens always strike at night, which narrows our window pretty significantly. Luckily, this gives us a good idea of what to expect. Several teams will fly out to Lonestar, and set up a temporary base in the old crew quarters. Ideally, they won’t be expecting us, and once they show up, we launch our ambush.”

“But remember, this mission is more about the beings themselves than it is about defending the resources,” said Rhodes. “Our primary concern is learning more about them, and unfortunately, they won’t likely respond to us extending an olive branch. If possible, I’d like you to bring one of them back alive.”

“Assuming we can stay alive,” said one of the soldiers.

“And what about their big advantage over us?” said Roger Farroway. “Aside from their tech, I mean. The spaceship.”

“Worry yourselves with ground combat,” said Rhodes. “One of BAINE’s fighter squadrons will watch the skies. Aided by one of my recent innovations, no less.”

\- - -

Those fighters were Falcon Squadron, who accompanied Director Mills down a hallway towards a hangar in a secret research base. They too had been informed of the plan to set up an ambush, but had not yet been informed of their means.

“Because of your commander’s previous contact with one of these beings’ crafts, you all have been chosen to take part in this operation,” Mills explained, leading the five pilots to their destination. “We still aren’t entirely sure what they are capable of, so I’ve decided to greenlight one of Dr. Rhodes’ projects.”

“And what sort of project would that be?” asked Sara. “‘Cause you haven’t exactly told us a lot here.”

“Would you be patient for once?” said Oscar. “I think we’d all fare a lot better if you could just--”

Emett cut in before either of them could get too heated. “Alright, that’s enough, both of you.” The two of them went silent.

“Still, I’d like to know what the plan is,” said Vladimir. “We aren’t exactly going on a whole lot.”

“Don’t worry, all will be explained in time,” Mills assured them, continuing down the hallway until they reached a door. “But first, I’d like you all to take a look at what’s behind here.”

Emett opened the door, and Mills and the rest of his team went through into the hangar. The dark room lit up as they walked in, in particular five spotlights shining on five futuristic jets. Immediately, the squadron knew what they were here for, examining the crafts with a sense of excitement.

Sara whistled. “New wings, huh? Yeah, that’s pretty sexy. I could see myself flyin’ one of those.”

“You  _ will _ be ‘flyin’ one of those,’” said Mills, grinning slightly. “I’d like to introduce you to the XA-9 Lightray, the latest in BAINE’s aerial combat arsenal. When the time comes for you to engage the enemy, you will each be flying in one of these. Our opponents may have capabilities beyond our own, but I have confidence that in a Lightray, you will be able to handle them.”

“You mean, because  _ we’re _ in a Lightray,” said Leon. “You said you chose us for a reason, right?”

“Indeed I did,” Mills said. “Now, I’ve ordered these planes shipped to your commanding officer. Take all the time you can to train, because we don’t know just when our opponents will strike.”

Mills was about to leave, but Emett stopped him. “Director, a moment? I appreciate that you chose us for this, but...like you said, we don’t know when these things are attacking. We’ve never flown one of these spaceships before, and a few days seems like not enough time to practice.”

The Director nodded. “I understand your concern, Mr. de Santis. But I assure you, the Lightray’s control scheme is nearly identical to the Scorpios that you are accustomed to. Its capabilities are greatly increased, and its weapons systems are much more advanced, but you should have no difficulty in handling it. Still, always better to be sure. Take them for a test flight or two, but be ready for the attack.” With that, he left the room, the door closing behind him.

Leon stepped up to Emett. “So, pretty sweet rides, huh? Space age! Honestly, I’m surprised they’re trusting us with something this expensive-looking!”

“My thoughts exactly,” said Vladimir. “Hey, try not to crash these, yeah?”

“Only for a good cause,” Leon replied. He walked over to one before Emett could ask him what he meant. “Come on, let’s take ‘em for a test drive!”

\- - -

_ June 28, 2016. Polaris Site Seventeen, Lonestar. _

Daniel stepped out of the car, shielding his eyes from the midday sun. The concrete warehouse sat in the middle of the desert, far from civilization. Its two massive doors were rusty from years of disuse, and hung open slightly. He walked forwards as the rest of the soldiers filed out of the trucks.

Slipping through the gap in the doors, Daniel turned on his flashlight to examine the interior. Canisters and shipping containers were scattered throughout, and the walls were covered with graffiti. He approached one of the crates near the door, lifting the lid to reveal several canisters of metal taken from Gem ships. He closed the box and made his way back outside.

Out in front of the warehouse, Ichigo was surveying the area. He turned towards Daniel once he stepped out. “What’s it lookin’ like in there, Danny Boy?” he asked. “We still in business?”

“The tech is still here,” Daniel replied. “We know these guys weren’t already here, now we just need to hope that Gina’s calculations were correct.”

“And that they don’t vaporize us,” said Luke, passing by on his way to the crew quarters.

“Yeah, that too,” said Ichigo. “So, you think we’re ready to fight some aliens?”

“We fight aliens every day, Ich,” Daniel said.

“I know, but  _ these _ aliens.”

Daniel shrugged. “You’re the one who got into the firefight, you tell me. You think we can handle them?”

“I…” Ichigo sighed, shrugging as well. “Who can say? I guess we’ll just have to find out.”

“That doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence…” said Daniel.

\- - -

_ July 1, 2016. _

As the sky darkened and evening approached, the only sound in the recently reoccupied crew quarters was of a rubber ball being bounced against the wall. As Vargas repeatedly threw and caught the ball from his bunk, James stared out the window at the setting sun on the horizon.

“Could someone check on Rook?” said Vargas. “I think he’s broken. At least pull him away before his corneas melt.”

“What’re you looking at?” asked Luke.

“What else?” he replied. “We don’t know exactly when these things are coming, or even if they are. They’re supposed to show up at night, so it could be any moment.”

“James, there’s no sense in sitting there waiting,” said Hester. “Our people are watching the radar, so we’ll know if anything shows up. You should--”

“Didn’t you hear what that pilot said?” said James, turning around. “That ship didn’t show up on radar. We won’t know they’re here until it’s too late, and either we miss our opportunity to learn more about them, or they kill us all in our sleep.”

“Sheesh, dramatic much?” said Ichigo. “They aren’t supposed to know we’re here, you know.”

“And besides, our scouts are looking for anything unusual,” Hester reminded him. “It’d be best to get some sleep while you can--you never know when they might show up.”

Rook cast one last glance out the window: aside from some curious cloud formations, nothing was out of the ordinary. “Good point,” he said. “I just don’t want to be caught off-guard.”

“We won’t be,” said Vargas. “We’ve been training for this. We’ll be ready.”

\- - -

_ July 2, 2016. _

Ichigo wiped the sweat from his brow as he stood guard outside the warehouse. “Phew! Hot one today, isn’t it?”

“Well, it  _ is _ Lonestar.” Vargas leaned against the wall beside him, cleaning out his gun. “Wish we could’ve set up an ambush somewhere nicer, like Florida.”

“Wouldn’t it have been just as hot there?” asked Ichigo.

“Yeah, but there’s nice hot, and harsh hot,” said Vargas. “In one, you can kick back and catch some rays by the pool, in the other you die of thirst while drowning in your own sweat. Kind of like I’m doing right now.”

“Hey, I bet you’re just happy you get to shoot some aliens,” Ichigo said.

Vargas grinned. “Got me there.”

A brief silence. “So...you think we can handle these things?” Ichigo stared out into the desert. “Who’s to say they don’t have some sort of face-melting lasers, or projectile probes, or something like that? I mean, if these are the kind of aliens that abduct people, I’m starting to think we might be out of our league.”

Vargas scoffed. “We’re not out of our league. And you know why not? You were there last time, you know what happened. Once we started shooting back, they ran. I don’t care what planet these things are from, if they’re scared of bullets, it means bullets can kill ‘em.” He held up his gun. “That just makes my job easier.”

Ichigo nodded, considering him. “Huh. You know, I never took you for an optimist, Vargas.”

“Optimist, pessimist, I just go with whatever suits me at the moment,” Vargas replied. “Go with the flow, that’s my motto.”

“Well, hopefully the flow doesn’t lead us to death by ray guns,” Ichigo said.

Vargas shot him a weird glance. “Were you even listening to me earlier?”

\- - -

_ July 3, 2016. _

“Luke. Luke, get up!”

As soon as James shook him, Luke jolted awake and shot out of bed. “I’m up! What’s it?” Despite his response time, he was still half-asleep.

“The whole reason we’re here,” James responded. He and the others were already gearing up. He tossed Luke some armor. “They’re here.”

“Here?” Luke asked as he suited up. “Like,  _ here _ here?”

“Close enough to alert the sensors,” said Hester. “Come on, get downstairs with Bridge.”

Once everyone was ready, the five of them left their quarters to meet up with the others. Several other troopers followed them, and more still were downstairs already. Daniel stood by the door, waiting to send them out.

Ichigo made his way over to their captain. “What’s the sitch, Danny Boy?” he asked, whispering just in case.

“Unidentified object three minutes from our location, heading in from above,” Daniel replied. “Falcon Squadron is scrambling as we speak. Alright, move out, and stick to the shadows!”

In pairs, the troopers crept out the door and made their way towards the warehouse. Entering through the back, they spread out to cover all positions, taking cover from any possible means of entry. Nobody was entirely sure what to expect, which made preparing even harder. These beings could attack from anywhere, at any time, meaning tensions were high for this engagement. Corrupted Gems were driven by instinct, and SEEN and the Children were humans. This was a different beast entirely.

“Do not engage until I give the signal,” Bridge announced over comms. “And do not open fire unless they fire first.”

The next two minutes felt like two hours. The warehouse was quiet enough that it seemed like breathing was making too much noise; every creak and groan made by the foundation settling almost made the troops jump. Hearts pounded as fingers hovered just above triggers.

When a quiet hum sounded out in the distance, steadily growing louder, there was almost a feeling of relief. Almost. Bright orange lights shone in through the windows of the warehouse and the hum grew louder as the ship approached. Soon, the building itself began to vibrate as the ship hovered directly above it, and then it was quiet once again.

Suddenly, a dim light came from the roof of the building. Nowhere near bright enough to be a spotlight of any kind, it instead seemed to be burning away the metal. Indeed, a black powder was falling from the ceiling and onto the floor--they were dissolving the roof into dust.

Moonlight shined in through a sizable hole, and several large figures dropped in. They didn’t need any sort of ropes or the like, simply landing from the height unscathed. Despite the moonlight, it was still difficult to make out many details. A general silhouette could be made out: the beings were heavily-built, and would have likely been around eight feet tall if they weren’t hunched over. Each of them possessed a tail, just like the one James had seen.

One last figure dropped in through the hole in the roof, landing hard enough to leave cracks in the concrete. This figure stood up to its full height, and seemed to look around the room. All of a sudden, a beam of light shone from this figure’s face, blinding the soldiers. The beam looked around the room, most likely checking if they were alone. After a brief scan of the area, after which the beings hadn’t seen any of the troops, the big one ordered the others in that same guttural language. A pair of the beings made their way up to a storage container, severing the lock in a flash of light. The doors creaked open, and the same two walked inside.

“Engage,” Daniel whispered.

The captain going first, the troopers leapt out from cover, aiming their weapons at the beings. Light from the soldiers’ flashlights filled the room, finally giving them a good look at the invaders. Each one appeared to be wearing a set of high-tech armor, though there appeared to be no cohesion between them; each one looked almost entirely different. Where they weren’t covered in armor, they appeared to have green scaly skin.

The one in the center had the most elaborate armor, which was colored bright red, adorned with what seemed to be skulls. It held up an arm to shield its eyes from the light, revealing a row of spines down its back. Once it lowered its arm, it could be seen to have a flat face with slitted eyes and numerous sharp teeth, with crests of bone on the sides of its head. It regarded the soldiers with what seemed to be curiosity, or perhaps confusion.

For a moment, nobody moved. BAINE troopers aimed their weapons at the aliens, who stood in place, either side waiting for the other to make the first move. “Bridge,” James said quietly, “what’s our plan of engagement?”

“I’ll handle this,” Daniel answered. “Keep your guns on them, I’ll try and approach.” Making sure that their attention was on him, he holstered his weapon, holding up both hands to appear non-threatening. The being in red, apparently the commander, regarded him strangely, cocking his head to the side. Slowly, Daniel began walking towards them. “Can you understand us?”

The lead being looked from Daniel to the rest of the soldiers surrounding him and the others. Turning back to Daniel, he said something in his language, seeming to be a question.

“I-I don’t understand,” Daniel said. “We don’t mean to harm you, we just want to make sure we’re safe. We aren’t your enemy.”

Their leader bared his teeth in what appeared to be a smile. He raised his arm, and when he clenched his fist, a blade shot out from a device on his forearm. Daniel staggered back slightly at this display. The being pointed this blade towards Daniel, growling out a command. The other beings lifted their weapons and opened fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, we get a good look at the invaders! Trivia: this isn't the first time this species has appeared in the Elsewhere Saga. Let's see if anyone can find it...


	8. From Above, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> BAINE's attempt to ambush the aliens does not go as planned.

Chapter Eight: From Above: Part 2

\- - -

Daniel managed to dive to the side and take cover behind a shipping container as the bolts of energy tore through the air. A few startled soldiers opened fire as well, though it seemed to do little more than annoy the aliens; their armor seemed to be bulletproof. Their leader with the red armor shouted something in his native language, and several of his troops headed for more of the containers.

The aliens that weren’t occupied with the crates were firing on BAINE. James took cover as well, firing out in bursts from his hiding place. He could hear the sounds of the beams hitting his shield, no doubt leaving the same burn marks as before.

Firing blindly as he ran towards him, Luke slid into cover beside James. “This all seems awfully familiar, doesn’t it?” he said.

“Unfortunately,” James answered. His hand reached for his communicator. “Captain, are you there? What’s our next move?”

“I’m fine,” Daniel answered. “For now, just hold out until air support arrives. If Falcon Squadron takes out their ship, that’ll cut off their only means of escape.”

Daniel’s plan was interrupted by a scream coming from James’ left. The alien commander had pounced on a BAINE trooper, the bullets unable to break through its armor. The commander drove his blade straight down, piercing through not just the trooper’s chest, but the ground beneath him as well. Slowly retracting the blade, the alien turned to look straight at James and Luke.

Both soldiers leveled their rifles and squeezed the triggers. The commander ran towards them, holding up his arm to shield himself from the bullets. James fell back just as he swung his blade, cutting a long gash into the barricade. Just as he raised his blade to finish James off, Luke drew his sidearm. Now that the alien was closer, he could more easily aim where the armor didn’t cover.

Bright green blood spilled from where the bullets pierced the being’s scales. The alien commander screeched in anger, swinging his blade wildly. James managed to scramble away, getting back to his feet and readying his gun once more. Before either trooper or alien could attack, the commander was suddenly driven away by a hailstorm of bullets that seemed to leave dents and scratches on his nearly-impenetrable armor.

The alien commander retreated as Vargas continued firing. “This is for earlier, you scum-sucking bastards!” he yelled, as bullets poured from his gun. “Get some!” The other aliens were repositioning so as not to be in Vargas’ warpath. It seemed even they recognized how dangerous he could be.

As the battle went on, the aliens would travel in and out of the shipping containers, seemingly still trying to get their hands on the Gem tech within. However, James didn't’ see them carrying any of the tech with them as they exited, or even some means of carrying it at all. “Captain, should we be trying to stop them?”

“At this point, they clearly aren’t friendly,” said Bridge, firing at them from behind cover. “If they’re willing to shoot at us, I doubt they’re the good guys.”

Another voice jumped in over the radio. “Hold on, are you all seeing this?” It was Ichigo. “They’re doing something with the cargo. I think they’re...teleporting it away, or something.”

From Ichigo’s vantage point, he could see the inside of a shipping container. Once inside, the aliens would affix a small disc-like object to a crate, twisting the side of it like a dial. After flashing blue for a few seconds, the disc, and the object it was attached to, would disappear in a flash of light.

“What do you mean, ‘teleporting it away?’” asked Bridge.

“I--Exactly what it sounds like!” said Ichigo.

Bridge groaned. “Alright, nevermind that, just try and stay alive until help arrives!”

“Preferably after that, too,” Ichigo added.

\- - -

Flying in formation (or at least, as tight a formation as Rattler and Tailspin could manage), Falcon Squadron raced through the air towards their destination. Tailspin whooped and hollered as he spun around the others. “I gotta say, I had a bit of trouble at first, but once you get used to ‘em, these things are badass!”

Vortex silently agreed, gripping the throttle of the Lightray. Though he still missed the cockpit of his trusty G-32 Scorpio, the Lightray was no doubt faster and more maneuverable, which was indispensable when facing a threat like this. “Falcon Squadron, weapons ready,” he said. “Approaching target.”

Before long, the sight of the warehouse came into view. An all-too-familiar craft, to Vortex at least, hovered above it, orange lights shining on the building beneath it. As the jets approached it, it rose higher, rotating to face them.

“Ground team, we have eyes on the hostile craft, preparing to engage,” said Vortex. “Falcon Squadron, open fire!”

All five planes sent a stream of bullets towards the ship, to little effect. The ship responded by firing its own weapon, a powerful blast of orange energy that cut through the air. The jets split off formation as it began charging another one.

“Jump, give me something here,” said Vortex, eyes fixed on the vessel.

“From what I can tell, it doesn’t seem like it has any shields,” Jump responded. “It has a lot of armor, but that’s all it has.”

“Then we keep hitting it,” Vortex said. “Rattler and I will draw its fire, everyone else, keep firing!” He looped back around to the front of the ship.

Rattler joined him, sending a spurt of bullets at the ship. “Hey, over here!” she shouted. “Come on, shoot at me!” It did so, the blast barely grazing her plane. “Ah, you couldn’t hit the broad side of Mars!”

Mayhem leveled out his plane, trying to lock onto the enemy ship, to no avail. “Something’s wrong, I can’t get a lock!” he said.

“Don’t you remember what Vortex said?” asked Tailspin. “These things have some sort of field that prevents lock-ons!” He soared past Mayhem towards the ship. “Just gotta let Lady Luck guide your shots!” Tailspin sent out a barrage of missiles, which soared towards the target. Most of them collided with the ship, but one missed, soaring out and exploding in the desert.

“Careful with those rogue shots, we’ve got friendlies on the ground!” said Vortex. He and Rattler continued taking evasive maneuvers from the ship’s main cannon. Although it could easily have given chase, it seemed determined to stay hovering above the warehouse. Just as well, as its armor meant that it was difficult enough to deal with as a stationary target.

Jump and Mayhem both approached, level with the ground so any wayward missiles wouldn’t accidentally hit the troops below. Mayhem released his entire salvo at once, while Jump was more methodical, aiming for what appeared to be weak points.As the latter fired, a brief blip appeared on his screen. “Hang on--that’s weird…”

“What’s weird?” asked Mayhem.

Just then, the ship fired, and the strange anomaly was gone. “Hmm… For a second there, I had a lock-on,” said Jump. “But I don’t know to what.”

Both jets sped past the target, and looped around for another run. “Well, next time, capitalize on the opportunity!” Mayhem said.

“Not so fast,” said Jump. “I can’t be sure it wasn’t locking onto something inside the warehouse.”

“Speaking of…” said Vortex. “Ground team, how’re you holding up?”

“Not great, but not terrible,” came the reply. “They’re pretty strongly hunkered down in here. I don’t know if we’re really doing anything to ‘em.”

“Then it’s up to us,” said Rattler. “Come on, let’s keep hitting this thing!” She turned around, unloading her machine guns on the ship’s front. In response, it fired another blast, this one coming much closer to hitting her than the last. A good chunk of her hull was seared off, but not enough to cause serious damage. “Hey! Watch the paint job!”

After another salvo of missiles collided with the ship to little effect, Mayhem growled in frustration. “What’s this thing made of!?” he asked. “There’s gotta be something we can do to make this easier!”

“Some pieces of its armor look like they’re thinner than others, but I can’t say for sure,” said Jump. “Not that that does us any good without lock-on.”

“It does if you’re a sharpshooter like me!” said Tailspin. He sped in towards the ship, firing a missile at a port at its side. The vessel lurched to the side at the impact, but still appeared undamaged.

“Sharpshooter, huh?” said Rattler.

Despite being repeatedly harassed by the fighters, the alien ship refused to leave its one spot. By now, there were quite a few craters in the surrounding area from its cannon shots. And despite everything, it was no more damaged than when they had started. “Falcon Squad, whatever you’re doing up there, try something else!” said Bridge. “We’re losing too many troops!”

“Working on it!” replied Vortex. Things were getting rough now, and he was getting desperate. At this rate, they may have to retreat. “Falcon Squadron, continue firing!”

“What do you think we’ve been doing!?” asked Rattler. “We’ve gotta do something else!”

“What else  _ can _ we do?” said Vortex. “Unless one of you is packing some heavy-yield ammo I don’t know about, this is all we can do to protect the ground troops!” The ship began charging another shot of its main cannon.

“Yeah, because this thing is such a big threat to them!” said Rattler. “I say they lead those aliens outside, and we mop ‘em up from up here!” Unbeknownst to her, the ship began to target her plane.

As the ship’s cannon charged, Jump once again caught a quick lock. He glanced up at the ship, realizing that the lock coincided with its cannon. That’s it…” However, he noticed too late that Rattler was directly in its line of fire. “Rattler, evasive maneuvers!”

His warning came a split second too late. The ship fired, and the powerful bolt of energy tore through Rattler’s plane, nearly severing a wing. She cried out as an explosion rocked her jet, just barely managing to regain control. “I’m hit! Critical damage! There’s all sorts of alarms goin’ off in here!”

“Rattler, fall back!” said Vortex. “You’re too damaged to keep flying; try to land somewhere flat!”

Rattler shielded her face as sparks flew from her console. “Sorry Boss, but I ain’t goin’ anywhere in this thing! She’s going down!” To the others’ horror, Rattler’s plane was having trouble staying in the air, and was rocketing out towards the desert.

“Eject! Eject!” shouted Tailspin.

“I-I can’t!” Rattler said.

“What!? Why not!?” asked Mayhem.

“There  _ is _ no eject!” she said. “Sit tight, this might be a bumpy lan--” Her radio cut off as her jet crashed down into the sands in the distance.

Vortex suddenly found his mind dragged elsewhere. Visions of a stormy sky above a raging sea, only the lightning illuminating his surroundings.  _ “I c-can’t! I’m caught in a wind tunnel! Someone, help!” _ “Rattler! Rattler, respond? Are you okay?” No answer.

“That’s it, I’m ending this!” snarled Tailspin. Having followed Rattler out a ways, he turned around, facing directly at the ship, which turned to face him as well. He pushed his throttle forwards, speeding towards the ship at full speed.

“Tailspin, slow down, you maniac!” Mayhem shouted. “You’re gonna get yourself killed!”

“That thing could’ve killed Rattler!” he replied. He swerved out of the way to avoid one of its blasts. “I’m putting it down before it kills anyone else!”

“Tailspin, turn back, now!” said Vortex, still trying to contact Rattler. “Rattler, do you copy, over!?”

A garbled transmission came through. “I...ine...spin not...nge me…” She didn’t sound injured, at least not seriously. Vortex sighed in relief, turning his attention back to the ship.

“Tailspin, Rattler’s alive!” he said. “Pull back, now!” No response, as Tailspin kept flying towards the ship. “Tailspin, that’s an order!” He growled as Tailspin still refused to listen.

“Vortex, it’s the weapon!” said Jump.

“Say again?” said Vortex.

“The ship’s somehow blocking our lock-ons, but I think that weapon it has generates enough heat to break through!” Jump replied. “Quick, get in there before Tailspin kills himself!”

With no time to lose, Vortex raced towards the ship. Luckily, he was closer than Tailspin, so he cut the latter off. “Get out of the way!” Tailspin yelled. Vortex said nothing.

The ship continued charging its cannon, and was moments away from firing. Just as Jump said, once the weapon was charged, Vortex was able to lock on. Once he got a steady tone, he slammed his thumb down onto the button. A single missile rocketed away from his jet, soaring directly at its target.

The missile collided with the weapon--a direct hit. The ship’s weapon was sent back on itself, with several more explosions tearing it apart from the inside out. Bits of metal rained down onto the roof as its armor was ripped to pieces. The ship weaved uneasily in the air, but still hovered in place.

“That’s all she wrote!” Mayhem rushed at the ship, sending one final volley of missiles. Already on the brink of complete failure, the missiles blasted away what little resistance the ship could still offer. Now resembling little more than a pile of molten slag, the ship spun out of control towards the ground, going up in one final explosion as it crashed down.

\- - -

The moment the ship was shot out of the air, the alien’s commander bellowed in rage, slamming his fist against a nearby crate. Their assault seemed to lessen as well, becoming much more defensive than before. “Ha, that did it!” said Ichigo. “Takin’ down that ship’s got Big Red on the ropes!”

“Good work up there, Falcon Squad!” said Bridge. “Everyone else, keep the pressure on! With no means of escape, they can only hold out for so much longer!”

Rook stood up, firing at the nearest alien. He noticed that they seemed to be falling back, creating a defensive perimeter around their commander. “We’ve got ‘em close to a stalemate,” he said. “Unless they’d rather go down fighting, they’ll have to surrender soon.”

“Don’t jinx it!” said Hester.

However, while it seemed like the aliens weren’t about to surrender, they didn’t seem keen on continuing fighting. A few of the closest ones took something out--a disc-like object. “Hold on, they’re up to something!” said Ichigo. “Those are the teleporter thingies!”

Each of the aliens affixed one of the discs to a slot in their chest armor. Just as before, they rotated the dials, and disappeared in a flash of light. Before long, the firefight had ceased completely, and the BAINE troops were alone in the warehouse.

One soldier cautiously approached the spot where the aliens had been just moments before. After giving the area a brief scan, she shook her head, turning towards Bridge. “No trace of them, Cap,” she said.

All of the soldiers lowered their weapons, and an air of uneasy calm over the warehouse. Several bodies littered the area, none of them alien. All that fighting--and not a single thing to show for it besides casualties.

Bridge sighed. “Alright. Everyone, back to the barracks. We’ll regroup in the morning, and I’ll see if I can--”

Before Bridge could finish his thought, he was suddenly snatched up from behind by the alien commander, who had stayed behind. ‘Big Red’ pulled Daniel along with him towards the other end of the warehouse, and leapt out a window, all before any of the troops had time to react.

“Holy--That thing’s got the captain!” yelled Luke.

“Well then, let’s go get that thing!” said Vargas, charging out the doors. The others followed him.

Daniel felt himself being thrown up into the air, landing with an impact on the warehouse roof. As he struggled to his feet, another impact beside him told him that Big Red wasn’t finished just yet. He looked up to face the alien, who loomed over him with an aura partly of anger, but mostly of self-satisfaction. He spoke in his unknown tongue, his words sharply passing through his teeth.

“Wish I could help ya with that,” Daniel said, “but I’m a little busy right now.” He had dropped his rifle when he had been grabbed, so he reached for his hip and quickly whipped out his sidearm. He was only able to get out a single shot, which glanced off Big Red’s armor, before the alien knocked his gun out of his hand.

Big Red lifted his arm to stab Daniel with his blade, but he rolled to the side just as the blade pierced through the roof. Daniel knew an opportunity when he saw one; Before the alien could remove his blade, Daniel threw a punch, hitting the being square in the jaw. His head lurched to the side, but he otherwise seemed unhurt.

The alien finally got his blade unstuck, and struck Daniel with his arm before he could throw a second punch. Daniel flew several feet, landing harshly further down the warehouse roof. He gasped for air, having been winded by the strike. Big Red slowly stomped towards him, letting out a noise that sounded like laughter.

Daniel gasped as a heavy boot pressed down on his chest, pushing out what little air he had managed to regain. He grasped at the alien’s leg, trying to free himself, to no avail. Big Red said something, but Daniel wouldn’t have heard it even if he understood. Finally, letting out a few coughs, he found himself able to breathe again. He looked the commander directly in the eyes. “You know, you guys aren’t giving your fellow extraterrestrials a good name,” he wheezed.

The alien chuckled as though he understood. He too reached towards his hip, removing a device that unfolded to form a pistol of some sort. He aimed the barrel right at Daniel’s forehead, showing off his fangs as he muttered one last sentiment in his language. Daniel closed his eyes.

A shot rang out, but a very clearly human one. Daniel opened his eyes as Big Red stumbled back, green liquid trickling down his form. For a moment, the alien stood still, regarding Daniel with surprise. His pistol dropped to the ground, and he stumbled to the side, unable to stand any longer. His body fell to the ground with a loud crash.

“Captain! You alright?” shouted James. Daniel slowly stood up, and made his way to the edge of the roof. He peered over the side to see his fireteam waiting for him down below, Hester’s sniper rifle smoking from the barrel.

“Hey, Danny Boy’s okay!” said Ichigo. “Good aim there, Hes!”

Hester shrugged. “It just helps to stay calm under pressure.”

Daniel called down to them. “What’s it look like down there? Any other stragglers?”

“Not likely,” Luke said. “That boss one’s the only one we say, in any case.”

Daniel peered over the side at where Big Red had fallen. The alien was completely still, its arms out to the side and its gaze empty. The team on the ground cautiously approached it, unsure if it was actually dead. Green blood trickled from its neck. Ichigo prodded it with his foot, and it didn’t move.

“...I just killed an alien,” Hester said, somehow sounding both nonchalant and disbelieving at the same time.


	9. New Enemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emett confronts Leon about his actions, and Rhodes seeks outside help.

Chapter Nine: New Enemy

\- - -

_ July 4, 2016. Outpost Nine, Lonestar. _

Luckily for Falcon Squadron, Sara had been relatively unharmed by her crash. Once the alien ship had been taken down, the remaining squad members had returned to base, and a team had been sent out to retrieve her. They regrouped at Outpost Nine, and in spite of their triumph, they were hesitant to celebrate.

All except Vlad, at least. “Come on, what’s with the moping around?” he asked his teammates. “You realize we’re probably the first humans to ever go head-to-head with an alien spaceship and win, right? I’d say that’s worth a few drinks, huh? Maybe a medal or two.”

Oscar was the only one who was listening. “I think everyone’s just thinking,” he replied. “Tonight was hard on all of us. Park and Manning almost died.”

Vlad, irritated, sat down. “But they didn’t, did they? We had their backs, like we always do. I don’t get what everyone’s so upset about.”

Oscar leaned over to peer behind his seat, where Emett was talking to someone in the hall. “De Santis sure seems to know,” he said. “Maybe try asking him.”

Emett was looking at his phone, where Rhodes was looking back. “All I’m saying is, you should have told us before we went out there,” Emett said.

“Look, there was a lot on my mind, on everyone’s,” Rhodes replied. “Besides, it’s not like I  _ forgot _ to put in an ejector seat. The Lightray is designed to function in outer space as well as the air. Suffice to say, ejecting isn’t an option once you’re that high up.”

“That much I can understand,” said Emett, “but one of my teammates was put in serious danger because of--”

“I understand, and I take full responsibility,” Rhodes interrupted. “And if she had died, I would have taken full responsibility as well. But the fact of the matter is, Agent Park is still alive. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m very busy.” He was quiet for a second, but stayed on the line. “Emett, I don’t mean to sound harsh. It’s just that everyone’s been on-edge recently. We have no idea what we’re up against, and it’s my job to shine some light on that. I’m sorry, but I really have to go now.”

Emett nodded. “I understand.” Edmund ended the call, and Emett placed the phone back in his pocket, letting out a deep sigh. After a while, he peered into the room where the rest of his team sat. “Leon? Can I talk to you for a minute?”

His teammate stood up and joined him out in the hall. He seemed ignorant of his commander’s less-than-pleased demeanor, seeming almost confused as to why he was out here. “Hmm? What’cha need, Emett?”

Sighing, Emett took a moment to find the right words. This wasn’t something he intended to jump right into. “What was that up there today?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” asked Leon, tilting his head. “If this is about me disobeying your orders, I--”

“It isn’t just the orders,” Emett said, clearly irritated. “I’m not happy about that either, but I’m even less happy about your decision to ram into the enemy like that.”

Leon was quiet for a moment. “Our weapons weren’t having any effect, and it took out Rattler,” he said eventually. “It was the only thing I could think of.”

“It was the  _ first _ thing you thought of,” Emett replied. “It would be one thing if this was the only time something like this had happened, but I’ve seen this before. You think the only way to give a hundred and ten percent is to literally sacrifice yourself, sometimes literally. You rush in without even the slightest regard for your own safety the minute things start looking bleak, and--”

“You would too if you felt like as much of a failure as I do!” Leon suddenly shouted. “Do you have any idea what it feels like, knowing I got my family killed!?”

Emett knew this story all too well. “Leon, that fire wasn’t your fault,” he said, trying to sound gentle.

“No. But you know what was? I stood there and watched, knowing my family was in there, but I was too damn scared to move. The fire may not have been my fault, but their deaths sure were…” He trailed off, his gaze lowering to the floor.

“You were just a kid then,” Emett said. “Being scared as a kid isn’t an excuse for this martyrdom complex you seem to have! You said you were worried about Rattler--did you stop and think that maybe  _ we _ were worried about  _ you _ ?”

Leon refused to meet Emett’s eyes. “I joined BAINE to protect people who couldn’t protect themselves. And if I have to die to do that, then so be it.”

Emett shook his head. “To take down one ship?”

“Nothing else was working,” Leon seethed.

“Oscar found its weak spot!” shouted Emett. “If you had just waited a few seconds, none of this would have had to happen?”

“Yeah. Alright.” Leon looked back up at Emett. “Let’s say Sara had died. Or Vlad, or Oscar, or me. Would you have done anything you could to avenge us?”

“This isn’t about that,” Emett said.

“No. Of course it isn’t.” With that, Leon stormed off, heading away to who-knows-where. Emett sighed, heading back into the room. Nobody said anything--they knew what had happened. This wasn’t the first time the two had this conversation.

\- - -

_ July 9, 2016. BAINE Headquarters. _

“So...this is what’s been giving us such a hard time lately?” said Rhodes.

The deceased alien had been moved from Lonestar up to Delmarva, with care taken not to damage the specimen. At the time being, it lay in a vat of preserving fluid, its armor having been removed for further study. A select few had gathered to catch a glimpse of the invader.

“Yup, Big Red, in the flesh,” said Ichigo. “Well, scales. So, you gonna cut this guy open or something? Alien autopsy, see what makes ‘im tick?”

“Not just yet,” Rhodes answered. “This is our only specimen, so we need to make sure we learn everything we can about it before we put ‘Big Red’ here under the knife. First order of business: consult the Gems. Now that we actually know what these invaders look like, maybe they can tell us more about them.”

“Hope so,” said Ichigo. “Only problem is, Garnet didn’t really seem too confident in her knowledge of aliens. And I doubt Amethyst would know anything. Maybe Pearl, then, or Lapis. Who did you have in mind?”

Rhodes sat down, spinning his chair around to face Ichigo. “It’s times like this,” he said, “that we bring in the professionals.”

\- - -

_ The Next Day. _

“So, this is the illusive ‘BAINE’ I’ve heard so little about,” said the diminutive Gem. “I can’t help but not be impressed.”

“Mmm.” James did his best to not engage with Peridot. From the moment he had gone to retrieve her, he knew she was going to be trouble. She didn’t seem to take him seriously, as most of what she had said on their way back to headquarters was either rambling about what she thought of Earth, or well-meaning-yet-passive-aggressive remarks about humanity. The other Gems had assured him that she was on their side; not that this filled him with much confidence.

“Really, I’m not sure why you bother,” she said. “If Homeworld does decide to invade, your species won’t stand a chance, even with our help.”

“Yes, well, we’re not dealing with Homeworld right now, are we?” James mumbled. He escorted Peridot (who tried to maintain the air that she knew exactly where she was going) into the lab where the body was being kept. Agents glanced at the unfamiliar Gem as she walked past. Eventually, they reached their destination, where Rhodes was there to meet them.

“Ah, and you must be Peridot!” he said cheerfully. “I’ve heard a lot about you. The other Gems say you’re very smart!”

“Don’t patronize me,” she replied. “But yes, everything they said about me is true. Except for the bad parts, feel free to ignore those.”

With Peridot now at her destination, James trudged off. “She’s your headache now,” he muttered.

Peridot glanced at his retreating form, then up at Rhodes. “What was that about?”

Rhodes changed the subject. “Nevermind. Right now, we’ve got more important things to deal with.” He began leading Peridot into his lab. “Agent Rook informed you of our situation, right?”

“Earth is under attack from an alien race, and you need my help identifying them. Sound about right?”

“Exactly,” said Rhodes. “Now, during your time working for Homeworld, did you happen to come across any alien races that were hostile to your empire?”

“Loads,” Peridot said. “Well, not directly, but I heard about a lot of them. There’s the Interlopers, the Kalderians, the Yt’joc, I’m pretty sure the Talu hated us at some point--the list goes on. You’ll have to be more specific.”

“Well, maybe seeing our specimen will jog your memory,” Rhodes suggested. He opened the door for Peridot; Hester, Ichigo, and Daniel were all waiting within.

“Hey, welcome to BAINE headquarters,” said Hester. “It’s good to have you on our side.”

“It’s good to  _ be _ on your side,” Peridot said. “Especially for you.”

“Now then...what can you tell us about this guy here?” said Rhodes. He gestured over to Big Red floating in the cylinder.

As soon as she saw the body, Peridot’s brow wrinkled in disgust. “Oh,” she said, with the same air of someone who just realized someone they hated had entered the building. “I know  _ exactly _ what that is.”

“And...what is it?” asked Daniel. “You don’t seem all that happy to see one.”

“That’s because I’m not.” Peridot stood in front of the vat, her air changing to that of a self-important teacher giving a lecture. “I’ve had to deal with way too many of these things for my liking. This, my human allies, is a Xevellan, the bane of Kindergarteners everywhere. Whenever Homeworld starts a new colony, the Xevellans aren’t far behind. They know the planet’s biosphere is soon to be destroyed, so they scour the world for any resources they can get their greedy little claws on while Homeworld does all the heavy lifting. In other words, parasites.”

Ichigo regarded the being in the tank. “That would explain why they're after all our stuff,” he said. “They wanna get their hands on it while the gettin’s good.”

Peridot groaned. “You have  _ no _ idea how annoying it is having to always watch out for these things! Then you have to hope that the Rubies you send for take you seriously, or show up in time to chase them off before they make off with your valuables--if there’s one thing I definitely  _ won’t _ miss now that I’m a Crystal Gem, it’s dealing with Xevellans.”

“So, their entire civilization revolves around picking up Homeworld’s table scraps?” asked Hester.

“Essentially,” continued Peridot. “It isn’t just Homeworld that they chase after, though. Xevel was destroyed a few millennia ago, so they basically roam the galaxies, picking off resources from worlds that are about to end. They’re like that one Earth animal, the one that flies around and eats organics that are already dead--what are those called, again? They mentioned them in  _ Camp Pining Hearts _ , but I forgot the name.”

“Vultures?” suggested Ichigo.

“I was thinking voles, but vultures works too,” said Peridot.

“So, if these Xevellans are here on Earth, then...does that mean the planet is about to end?” asked Rhodes.

Peridot shrugged. “They probably don’t know that yours truly saved you all from the Cluster.” She leaned in closer. “Between you and me, this planet wasn’t worth sacrificing just for one Geo-weapon that probably wouldn’t have been that effective anyway, but what do I know?” She began walking out. “Anyway, wow thanks for having me, but I have to get going, my shows are on.”

“Peridot, hold on!” Rhodes blocked her before she could leave. “So, the Xevellans aren’t a threat, then? They won’t destroy the planet or anything?”

“Oh, no, they absolutely will,” Peridot said casually. “Unless something else destroys a planet before them, they’ll strip it dry. Look on the bright side: they’ll probably just enslave you all instead of killing you. Maybe.”

“Is...is there any way we can stop them?” asked Hester.

“You could always try blowing up their mothership, that usually makes them back off,” said Peridot. “In my experience, it’s usually located somewhere away from Homeworld activity, so try looking somewhere without a lot of humans.”

All four agents were lost in thought. It was a lot to take in--the Earth itself was at risk. And given how only one encountered had just barely ended in a victory, they shuddered to imagine what the full force of their attack would be like. “So, what now?” asked Daniel.

“We try and figure out a way to stop them,” said Rhodes. “We should start by finding their mothership.”

“There’s always a mothership,” Ichigo said. “But...is anyone else concerned about this whole ‘they only go after ending worlds’ thing?”

“I thought that was because of the Cluster,” said Hester.

“Yeah, maybe it is,” Ichigo said. “But I can’t help but shake the feeling that these Xevellan guys know something we don’t…”

Peridot piped up. “Can I go now?”


End file.
